Smallville: An Alternate Future
by LadyV77
Summary: Slightly AU. While Clark begins to fall in love, the meteor rocks start to disappear and Clark isn’t the only one with superpowers.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Smallville: An Alternate Future

**Rating: **PG-13 for language and mild violence

**Summary:** Slightly AU. While Clark begins to fall in love, the meteor rocks start to disappear and Clark isn't the only one with superpowers. This story is set seven years after Clark graduates from Smallville High, I am taking things from when Martha discovered she was pregnant. Instead of losing the baby and all that Jor El sounding evil stuff I am simply jumping ahead. If this confuses anyone, feel free to ask me questions. Pairing will be Clark/Original character.

**Disclaimer:** Smallville and its characters do not belong to me, I am making no money off them, I'm only playing with them for awhile. Zoey, Aen, and everyone else you don't recognize are mine, however. Aen's name is pronounced like pain without the p.

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought or emphasis.

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"...so I'm closer than ever to...Clark? Clark, are you listening to me?"

Lex Luthor followed his younger friend's gaze to a table near the door. Two young women sat together, a gorgeous redhead and a beauty with raven tresses. Lex slugged Clark in the arm before asking, "So, which one do you have your sights on?"

Clark opened his mouth before snapping it shut. He turned to glare at Lex.

Lex smiled and shook his head, "Still living the life of a monk, Clark? I don't know how you do it."

Lex returned his gaze to the two women and studied them. They were both magnificent. Both of them were reading, the Wall Street Journal spread out before the dark one and a paperback thriller in the hands of the redhead. The black-haired beauty was more to his taste, but he had the feeling Clark would be more rattled if he approached the redhead. Perhaps he could provoke Clark into tasting more of life. He wanted Clark to be happy.

"Are they new in town?"

"Yes." When Lex waited silently for more information, Clark sighed, "I don't know their names. They're staying with the Smiths, a young couple who just bought the Bowman place a week ago."

Lex frowned, "Isn't that the property adjacent to your parents'? The one that's unplantable because the previous owner went nuts and sowed all the fields with salt?"

"Yep. You can imagine how people in town are scratching their heads and laughing at the stupid city folk. No offense."

"None taken," Lex assured him. "I'm going to go see what I can find out. Maybe I'll get more than just a name from that cute redhead."

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Anger bubbled up inside Clark and it took quite an effort not to yank Lex back down in his seat when he stood and dusted imaginary lint from his as always impeccable suit. The sudden surge of jealousy he felt was surprising. Who was he to try to forbid Lex from having a good time? In any other case, he would never begrudge Lex a future ex, he hadn't even minded when Lex had gone out with Lana four years ago, but this time it was different. Why, he couldn't say, but the attraction he felt for the redhead was overpowering, and also unusual. He didn't know a thing about her, but he felt protective and possessive of her.

Just as Lex took a step forward, the door of the coffee shop swung open, and two men with brown hair and a blonde woman joined the redhead and her companion. Lex sat back down abruptly. One of the men was enormous, seven feet if he was an inch and built like a freight train. Clark smirked, but his relief was only momentary. The smaller of the men, still tall and strong in his own right, was staring at the redhead with obvious lust in his eyes. But when the bigger man greeted the redhead softly and she smiled brilliantly at him, Clark felt as if he had been gutted.

The five of them began talking and Clark was mildly surprised when he realized through his super hearing that they were speaking a foreign language. He frowned. Though he was sure it wasn't any language he had heard before, it seemed vaguely familiar.

The redhead tucked a napkin into her book as a makeshift bookmark and leaned towards the larger of the two men. He said something to her with an inflection that made Clark think whatever he had said was a question. She nodded and turned in her chair.

She looked first at Lex, her gaze appraising. Lex raised his eyebrows, and Clark realized the redhead had made him uneasy. No one had dared look at Lex Luthor that way in a long time. When she turned her eyes to his, her gaze softened and her lips parted slightly. Clark forgot to breath. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green he had ever seen, a deep emerald with a few small flecks of gold in each eye. Lex nudged his foot and Clark started, realizing that he had been staring into her eyes for at least a couple minutes. He felt better when he realized that she had been staring right back.

She blushed and rose to her feet. She hesitated, sucking her full lower lip between her teeth momentarily before releasing it and walking towards them. Clark rose as she approached them, and Lex followed suit.

"Mr. Kent?" She asked softly.

Clark almost turned his head to see if his father was there. No one had ever called him Mr. Kent before.

"Clark," he corrected gently.

"Clark," she repeated. His name had never sounded so good to him. She held out a hand. Clark grasped it gently. "Aen Jones." She looked at Lex, "And Mr. ... ?"

"Luthor, Lex Luthor," Lex gave her his most devastating smile.

She didn't react. Clark smiled. She glanced at him, her gaze catching his. She smiled, too. Lex held out his hand, and Clark let go of her, embarrassed that he had been caught still holding her soft hand. Almost reluctantly it seemed, she put her hand in Lex's. Clark wasn't surprised when a surge of jealousy hit him as Lex lifted Aen's hand to his lips. The feeling subsided when Aen merely lifted a single eyebrow at Lex and turned back to him.

"Mr. Kent, would you mind joining us? We have a favor to ask you."

"Of course," Clark answered.

Lex asked, "May I join you as well?"

Aen blinked, "Sure."

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Clark and Lex allowed Aen to precede them, and Lex had to bite back a laugh when Clark forced his way in front of him to walk behind Aen. Clark definitely had it bad for the redhead. But so, evidently, did one of her friends. The smaller of the two men was glaring holes in both Clark and himself. Aen motioned to two extra chairs at the table and slid back onto her seat. Clark chose the chair closer to her and Lex smiled again.

Aen waited for them to settle into their seats before beginning the introductions.

"Guys, this is Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. Mr. Luthor, Mr. Ke... uh, Clark, this is my cousin Jisin Jones." The black-haired beauty smiled at both of them, her look assessing when it fell on Clark. Recognizing that she was simply checking Clark out to see if he was okay for her cousin, Lex grinned at her when she glanced at him a second time. She grinned right back. "Our friends, Zin and Sar Smith." The mountain of a man nodded, and the blonde next to him smiled shyly. "And...Senate Carter."

The last introducee did not smile or nod, he simply continued to glare at them. Aen said something to him sharply in a language Lex couldn't identify, and he scraped his chair backwards before stalking out of the coffee shop.

"I'm sorry," Aen said to the table, "he's not a very social person."

There was an awkward silence for a minute. Lex cleared his throat and asked, "What was the favor you all needed from Clark? Perhaps I can help."

Jisin smiled, her blue eyes twinkling, "The offer is more than generous and certainly appreciated, Mr. Luthor, but quite unnecessary. We just needed to ask him if he or his father could spend an afternoon walking the property line with us. The Bowmans never put up a fence, and we're having trouble getting a copy of the property map from the county office. They're all missing."

"Of course," Clark agreed. "My father's going to Metropolis tomorrow, but I can show you where the property line is, say about one?"

Aen looked at Zin and he nodded, adding aloud, "Thank you, Mr. Kent, we really appreciate it. We'll come to your place. Now, if you'll excuse us, my wife and I need to get back to the house."

"Of course, it was nice meeting you both. I'll see you tomorrow," Clark said.

Zin and Sar left; Clark and Lex were alone with Jisin and Aen.

Lex leaned forward and asked, "So, where are all of you from? I can't seem to place your accent or the language you were speaking earlier."

Jisin shrugged. "All over, really. We've never really found the perfect place to settle. We may not be here for more than a couple months." At that, Clark cast a startled glance at Aen. Lex was pretty sure his younger friend was thinking that he didn't have very long to get to know her. "Our accent is probably just a mix of all the places we've stayed. As for the language," Jisin leaned forward and whispered dramatically, "if I told you that I'd have to kill you."

Lex raised his eyebrows at this and glanced at Clark and Aen. They were staring into each other's eyes again. Jisin glanced at them too, and for a minute she looked worried. Lex assured her, "Clark would never hurt your cousin."

"That's not exactly what has me worried," she muttered, standing up. "Aen, we need to go. We still have to do the grocery shopping before we go back to the farm."

Aen bit her lower lip and released it. She stood as well, and both women said good-bye before heading out the door.

Lex turned towards Clark. His younger friend looked disappointed and slightly confused. Lex couldn't blame him. What had made the girls leave so suddenly?

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Jisin caught Aen looking back at the Talon and sighed. Smiling sadly to herself, she said, "He's beautiful, Aen."

Aen blushed. "Yes, he is, but it's more than that. There's something about him. A goodness, but also the sense that he's holding something back from everyone around him."

"Aen," Jisin warned, "you won't be the one to find out what that is. You can't get involved with him."

"I know."

Jisin frowned again. In all their travels, she had never once had to remind Aen that it was pointless, and dangerous, to get involved with anyone. Clark Kent must be a very special man.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought or emphasis.

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When the knock came at the kitchen door, Clark glanced at the clock. One o'clock exactly. They certainly were punctual. Clark opened the door. Aen stood on the porch, alone. Clark smiled delightedly. Aen smiled back.

"Zin couldn't make it, something came up. I hope you don't mind just showing me."

"Not at all. Come on in. Mom's digging out a copy of a map of the whole area from thirty years ago. Since everyone adjacent to us and the Bowman place but the Rosses still own the same farms, it should have the Bowman place on it."

"That's great, we were getting a little worried about it. We know how defensive small towns can be, and we didn't want to step on anyone's toes."

Clark nodded, but didn't get to say anything when an energetic child suddenly ran through the kitchen with her shirt on backwards. Clark shook his head at his little sister's antics. The girl stopped in front of Aen and blinked up at the redhead, a plastic-wrapped homemade cookie in each hand.

Aen squatted, bringing herself down to the height of the child in front of her. She smiled, her gaze soft, and she asked, "Hi, I'm Aen, what's your name?"

"Zoey," she hardly paused before continuing, "Momma says I can't go play with Mary until I have my shirt the right way," she held the cookies in front of Aen's face, "but my hands are full."

Aen's smile turned to one of amusement, but instead of asking Zoey why she didn't put the cookies down, she offered, "Would you like some help?"

Clark was surprised when Zoey nodded enthusiastically, her blonde curls bouncing, and held her arms straight out from her body. It always took her awhile to warm up to new people, sometimes she never did. Aen gently grasped each of Zoey's sleeves in turn, allowing the girl to pull her arms out of the sleeves. Aen turned the shirt around, passing a finger over the picture of a kitten chasing a butterfly on the front as Zoey pushed her arms through the correct holes.

"Thank you," Zoey beamed at Aen.

Aen smiled back and stood. "You're welcome. Are the cookies to share with Mary?"

"Yup. Have you seen my purse?"

Clark was just about to remind his sister that Aen didn't know what her purse looked like, when Aen picked it up off the coat tree and held it out to Zoey. When the little girl glanced at the cookies in her hands, Aen bent down once more, holding the simple blue denim bag open. Zoey slipped her treasure into the purse, taking it from Aen and putting it over her own small shoulder. Clark stared at Aen. He hadn't thought it was possible to like her more after such a short time, but he did. She was amazing. He felt a familiar tug on the front of his t-shirt and looked down at Zoey.

"Momma needs your help to lift a box. I forgotted."

Clark opened his mouth, "Sorry, Aen..."

"It's okay," she assured him. "I'm not in any hurry. I'm sure Zoey will keep me company while you help your mother."

Zoey grabbed Aen's hand and dragged her into the front room area of the open floor plan. Aen sat down on the sofa and Zoey presented her with a hair brush. "Can you make my hair pretty like yours?"

Aen touched the French braid on her own head briefly. Clark realized that she was probably wearing it that way for convenience, but it was very pretty.

Aen smiled at Zoey again and asked, "Do you have a hair band?"

Zoey produced a bright pink one from the front pocket of her denim shorts and handed it to Aen.

"Turn around."

Zoey did as she was instructed, sitting in Aen's lap on her own. Aen began gently brushing the little girl's shiny hair and turned her head to look at Clark, smiling to assure him they were going to be fine. He smiled back and she blushed slightly before turning back to her task. Clark left the room, heading up to the attic, where his mother was probably waiting impatiently.

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When Clark left the room, Zoey launched into the story of her eight year long life, and Aen smiled again. The little girl was definitely a firecracker, and Aen found herself drawn to her more and more with each passing moment. She was getting dangerously attached to Clark and Zoey Kent; heaven help her if their parents were just as nice.

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"Oh, there you are, Clark. Did Zoey forget again?"

"Yeah, Aen's here so that probably added to it."

"She gets distracted so easily," Martha mused. "Did she hide behind you as soon as she met Aen?"

"No, actually, she likes Aen. Zoey asked her to do her hair."

Martha's jaw dropped. "Well, I wanted to meet her before of course since she's one of our neighbors. But now... I'm not quite sure I can believe this."

"Mom, I know it's a shock, I can still hardly believe it and I saw it happen, but Aen is waiting and you still haven't told me what you needed help with."

"Oh, right." Martha laughed, "Maybe I'm where Zoey gets her distracted nature. That stack of boxes in the corner, I need the bottom one."

The stack was seven boxes high, and all but the bottom one had "Books" written on the side. Clark slid his hand under the one second from the bottom and lifted, waiting while his mother slid out the box she needed. Gently he set the stack on the attic floor. Books should always be on the bottom of the pile. Martha checked a few maps before finding the one she wanted. She closed the box back up, and Clark hovered a foot off the ground to gently set the box on the top of the stack.

Martha turned off the light. They both headed downstairs, Clark in the lead. When they reached the living room, Aen and Zoey were sitting on the floor in front of the TV. Like Aen's, Zoey's hair was in a tidy French Braid, and she was showing Aen her collection of Disney movies.

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Zoey picked up a case that read "The Little Mermaid" and plunked herself down in Aen's lap. Zoey turned herself sideways and looked up at Aen, holding the plastic box a few inches from Aen's face.

"This is my favorite. Look, she has red hair like you."

"So she does," Aen easily agreed.

"Do you like the Little Mermaid?" Zoey asked.

"I've never seen it."

Zoey shot off her lap, and Aen missed the weight of her little body. She glanced up and saw Clark and a woman she assumed was his mother enter the room. Zoey was doing an excited dance in front of the woman.

"Can Aen stay and watch the Little Mermaid, Momma?"

"Not today, you're going to play with Mary, and Clark and Aen have some work they have to do."

"Oh, yeah, I forgotted." Zoey looked disappointed.

Aen smiled when Mrs. Kent looked at her. The older woman smiled back.

"Why don't you invite Aen to come watch the movie with you and Clark on Friday when Daddy and I go to Metropolis?"

Zoey skipped back over to her. "Will you?"

"I'd like that very much." Aen responded.

Zoey smiled delightedly and Aen smiled back. The child's unbridled joy was contagious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought, emphasis, etc.

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Aen showed Clark the markers she had brought to designate the property line. The metal stakes with small white flags on the ends would be easy to jab into the ground and would be visible from a distance.

"Zin may never actually put up a fence," Aen told Clark as they walked, "but in case he does he doesn't want to accidentally build it on your property."

Clark nodded and looked back at the house. "You don't have to come on Friday if you have other plans. Zoey will probably forget she even asked you."

"I want to," she said simply.

They continued walking in comfortable silence until they reached the spot on the map that indicated the first meeting of the Kent property and the Bowman – now Smith – place. Taking one of the stakes from Aen, Clark pushed it down into the earth. When he looked up at her, she was watching him. Aen blushed and glanced away. Her eyes returned to his face, only to find _him_ watching _her_. Aen was very attracted to Clark, but she knew nothing could come of it. But even that knowledge didn't stop her from wanting to know him better.

"Have you lived here all your life?" Aen asked.

"I was adopted as a very young boy, but since then, yes, I have lived my whole life in Smallville."

"I've always wondered what it would be like to be able to call one place home instead of having to move around all the time," Aen murmured.

As they continued walking, placing the markers in the ground every thirty feet, Clark told Aen all about growing up in Smallville, about having one of the world's richest men as his best friend since he was fifteen. About his best friends growing up, Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan. About the adventures they had in childhood and through high school. About going to community college before realizing that he didn't really need agriculture classes when he already knew everything it took to run the farm, that it was an unnecessary cost that in the long run wouldn't do him or his family any good. About being a big brother when no one had ever thought it would happen.

In return she told him about the thrill of traveling and seeing new places. Of the thrill wearing thin when you had lived more places than you had years in your age. Of losing her mother at the age of nine and being raised by Jisin's mother, her aunt, and being treated as an encumbrance much of the time. Of having a sense of family with her three closest friends.

Clark was setting the sixth stake into the earth when Aen heard a strange rattling sound. The next thing she knew, there was a snake hanging from the ankle of Clark's boot, it's teeth sunk into the leather.

_Clark!_

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Clark stared at Aen in confusion. He could have sworn he heard her scream his name, but her mouth hadn't opened. He followed her horrified gaze down to his own foot and saw the rattlesnake that had "bitten" him. He leaned down and gently grasped the small animal's tail, tossing it away from them.

"W-We need to get you to the h-hospital," Aen choked out.

She made a move toward him as if to support his greater weight, and Clark took the opportunity to lightly touch her arm. She was shaking infinitesimally. Clark gently rubbed both of her arms with his hands, trying to draw her out of her shock.

"I'm okay, Aen. It didn't bite me."

"How can you know that? You could be dying right now!"

Realizing only physical proof that he was okay would calm the young woman down, Clark sat on the ground to take off his boot and the sock under it.

"Come here," he lightly commanded.

Aen obeyed, squatting down to his level to be close to him. Her eyes scanned the flesh of his ankle, widening when she found no sign of injury. Releasing a sigh of relief, Aen sank down beside him.

"He didn't completely puncture the boots, Aen," he told her. He didn't like lying to her, but what was he supposed to say, _it's okay, my invulnerable skin is rattlesnake bite resistant as well as bullet proof_? It probably wouldn't go over too well even if he could tell her. "I'm fine."

Aen nodded slowly. After a few minutes, a dull blush colored her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I overreacted, I've just never seen a rattlesnake before."

"It's okay, Aen," he soothed. "Immediately wanting to get a snake bite victim to the hospital is the right instinct to have. I just got lucky."

"Thank you, Clark," she said.

Clark put his sock and shoe back on and pondered what would have happened if the snake had attacked Aen instead of him. Would he have risked exposing his secret to her in order to save her life? Somehow Clark knew that the answer to that was a resounding yes. It was slightly terrifying to realize she already meant so much to him.

The rest of their afternoon walking the property line was uneventful, though Clark did catch Aen glaring suspiciously at every blade of grass that dared to moved within a five foot radius of them. It touched him that she had been so concerned for him, and when Clark said good-bye to Aen later, he realized that though they had greeted each other earlier that day as barely acquaintances, they had parted as friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought, emphasis or telepathic communication.

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"Wasn't Gamma supposed to show up for this mission?" Alpha asked with an edge to his voice.

Omega frowned, keeping her eyes on the third member of their unit, Upsilon, who was now scouting the perimeter of the building they needed to break into.

"I don't know. The three of us can handle this. Beta isn't here either."

"She wasn't scheduled," Alpha reminded her unnecessarily.

Omega sighed heavily and her voice turned cold, "If you _really_ want him here, I can always summon him."

Alpha gave her an apologetic look from behind the black mask that hid the upper half of his face. "No, it's fine. You're right; we've always been a complete unit without him. I think they're just using him to spy on us anyway."

Omega grunted noncommittally and smiled as Upsilon approached. The two women also had masks that covered their noses and eyes, effectively hiding their identities if anyone had known where to look for them. But not many humans would think to look for three figures floating somewhat above the tree line two hundred feet from the warehouse. The only light part of them was the area of skin around their mouths and their necks. Their clothing was black and formfitting, made of a material that hugged everywhere and still allowed complete range of motion. Even their hair was dark, all three had hair that was somewhere between brown and black in color.

"The laptop's set up," Upsilon reported. "I was able to loop enough feed that the two guards will appear to be making their entire rounds. Inside the building has been taken care of, too."

"And you're sure there's just the two of them, no one inside?" Omega asked for confirmation.

Upsilon nodded, tapping one gloved finger next to her right eye. "I double checked."

Omega sighed with relief. "Alright, phase one complete, let's move on to phase two."

Alpha flew quickly to a nearby tree where he had put a black duffle that carried their smaller supplies. He pulled out two tranquilizer guns, handing one to Omega. Putting the two humans to sleep with drugs would be much safer than knocking them out physically. This way, other humans could be blamed, and they didn't have to worry about hitting the men too hard and injuring them permanently.

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The unit split up again, Upsilon following Omega to the far side of the building to take care of that section's security guard. He was down in seconds, and less than a ten count after, Alpha rejoined them.

"Phase two complete," he said.

Alpha held up a security card he had pulled from his victim's pocket and grinned.

Omega laughed softly at his enthusiasm, "Commence phase three."

_Was he complaining about Gamma again_? Upsilon asked her team leader as they landed on the forest floor to pick up the thick sheets of lead they had brought with them. There were six sheets, each cut specially so when put together they would form a cube five feet long on each side. Upsilon had kept her mouth shut, allowing Omega to pluck the thought from her head.

_Heard that, did you?_ Omega sent back. _I think he's afraid the Council will blame me for Gamma's disregard for orders_.

Upsilon rolled her eyes. She shared Omega's intense dislike for the man who was the unwanted member of their unit. He had never done more than the absolute minimum, and lately he had been pestering Omega every moment he was with them. Omega was a lot more patient with him than Upsilon would have been in her place, but even Omega's patience had started to fray recently. Unfortunately, Gamma was just as invulnerable as they were, otherwise Upsilon would have torn his head off a long time ago. She was pretty sure much more from the other man would push even Alpha to take action, and he was the one who was always most concerned with staying on the Council's good side.

The two young women followed Alpha into the warehouse. Upsilon helped Omega set up the lead cube; the two squinting at the lined-up pieces of metal and watching them weld together. They left the top off for Alpha to put their cargo in. He, meanwhile, opened the sliding door at the back of the warehouse. The door they had entered through would not be big enough to take the cube back out. Alpha then went to the safe in the far corner of the warehouse. Putting his ear on the large door to listen to the tumblers inside, he opened the safe the no thrills way.

When the door swung open revealing the green glowing rocks inside, Omega paled and backed as far as possible away from the safe. Of the three of them, she was the most susceptible to the meteorite rocks' effects. Upsilon nodded to Alpha and moved to join the other woman. Alpha brought the open-topped cube to the area in front of the safe, transferring the pieces as quickly as possible. He had to stop and move away from the glowing rocks every three minutes, which they had discovered some time ago was his limit for contact without it affecting him.

Alpha's immunity, though temporary, is what had gotten him the second position on the team. Omega was unit leader due to her leadership abilities and the length of time she had been serving the Council. Upsilon was the technology whiz of the group, and Beta and Gamma were extra muscle for when they needed a larger team. They had two other emergency members, Theta and Omikron, but so far they had not been necessary.

Fifteen minutes later, Alpha had transferred the last of the meteorite rocks into the lead cube and put the lid on. Omega and Upsilon moved cautiously closer and the three sealed the lid together.

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_One last sweep_, Omega asked of Upsilon.

The other woman nodded and pivoted in a circle, paling slightly when her gaze came to rest on the company name plaque near the door.

"No more kryptonite," she reported, "but there is something interesting under the company name."

Omega's attention turned toward the plaque. It did look thicker than it needed to be. When they had done a quick background check on the place after learning what was stored inside, it had been obvious that it had been a dummy corporation. But they hadn't had the permission to dig deeper. Could the company who really owned the building have been remiss enough to leave a clue to their identity behind?

"What does it say?"

Upsilon bit her lip and answered, "LuthorCorp."

"LuthorCorp? I thought Lex Luthor's company name was LexCorp."

"It is," Alpha confirmed. "But his father, Lionel Luthor, had a company called LuthorCorp when he was alive. Mr. Luthor the younger took it over and renamed it."

Omega frowned. "I wonder if Mr. Luthor has any more stores of meteorite rocks we should know about."

"We can bring the information to the Council, but it will be up to them whether we can investigate him," Upsilon reminded them.

Omega sighed. "Right. Phase three is now complete, let's get going."

Phase four was to erase all evidence of their actions. The safe was closed, and the sliding door returned to its original state after the lead cube was safely clear of the building. Alpha put the security card back in the still unconscious guard's pocket and Upsilon programmed the security system to return to normal after two minutes before detaching her laptop from the power box she had used as a back door. With their duffle over Alpha's shoulder and Omega flying with the cube in one hand, the trio flew straight up into the atmosphere.

No one saw a thing.

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Clark grumbled under his breath when the shrilly ringing phone woke him up. He peered with one one eye at his alarm clock. He cursed when he saw that it was only a few minutes after four in the morning.

_This had better be good_, he thought, snatching the receiver from the cradle before it could ring again and wake the rest of his family.

"Wha?" He said incoherently into the phone.

"Clark, sorry to wake you, but I thought you might be interested to know that a warehouse that once belonged to Lionel Luthor was broken into earlier this morning."

"Chloe," Clark sighed. "Why would I care about that? I'm sure Lex had whatever was there insured."

"I don't think so," she answered.

Chloe rarely called, and hardly ever mentioned the late Luthor now that she had gotten past his pre-death blacklisting of her and was working in Metropolis at the Daily Planet. If Clark had been fully awake, he would have remembered this sooner, but he was quickly catching up.

"I think it might have been meteorite rocks, Clark."

At this, Clark came fully awake. "What would make you think that?"

"Haven't you heard? No, I guess you wouldn't have in Smallville. Meteorite rocks have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances all over the world. This is the first time I've heard about it near Smallville, though. I just thought I'd give you the heads up. Uh, Clark, I have to go, my editor is calling me. We'll catch up soon, okay?"

"Okay, and thanks Chlo."

"Sure, Clark."

Sighing, Clark put the telephone back on its base. Why would someone be stealing meteorite rocks? In the past, he would have suspected Lex, who had a penchant for getting mixed up with people who wanted to enhance themselves with the green glowing rocks, but he wouldn't steal from himself. And what had Chloe meant by 'mysterious circumstances'? Clark sighed again. It appeared he had some research to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought or emphasis.

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Three days after Clark had been woken by Chloe's call, he had already done a lot of his own investigating. The meter rocks were indeed disappearing. Not only from warehouses and scientific labs around the globe like Chloe had known about, but also in a lot of local spots in Smallville. Clark had checked riverbeds, parts of the woods, even fields he and his parents had known contained the green glowing rocks. Most places had been cleared out.

In a way, he was glad. Less meteor rocks meant less places where he might get hurt or have a reaction. But mostly he was worried. The whole town knew, whether they admitted it or not, that the meteor rocks had a bad effect on some people. Who would be hoarding them? And for what reason?

"Cla-ark."

Zoey was the only one he knew who stretched his name out to two syllables. Clark glanced at his sister across the dinner table, smiling to let her know he was paying attention to her now.

"Do I hafta finish my green beans?"

Zoey stuck out her bottom lip and batted her big blue eyes at him. Clark glanced at her plate, noting that she had eaten most of her food, including half of the offending vegetables. Zoey was a light eater a lot of the time, but she could eat many small portions during the day instead of just the usual three meals. She had eaten a lot today, and Clark knew he could safely tell his mother so.

"Okay, Zoey, but don't tell Mom."

The little girl bounced out of her seat and took her plate to the counter. She was still too short to put her plate in the sink, but she was learning to do chores she was capable of. Taking her plate to the counter after meals, picking up her toys and collecting eggs in the morning were her main responsibilities. Clark was always surprised that her bounciness didn't disturb the chickens.

A soft rap on the door snapped Clark out of his introspection.

"Aen's here," Zoey squealed, hopping on one foot toward the kitchen door.

It was Friday, the day Zoey had invited Aen to come over and watch The Little Mermaid while Martha and Jonathan were in Metropolis for their biweekly night out. Clark caught himself straightening his shirt and moved to open the door for their guest.

"Hi," Aen said softly, smiling at him.

"Hey," he responded.

_Oh, yeah, real smooth Kent,_ he thought.

"Hi, Aen!" Zoey greeted, ducking under Clark's arm to grab Aen's hand and drag her into the house.

Clark moved out of the way and watched his sister pull Aen all the way into the living room. What was it about Aen that made Zoey lose every ounce of her shyness? Clark shrugged at his own unspoken question and closed the door.

He walked quickly into the living room, smiling as Zoey ushered Aen to a spot on the couch that was to the side of where he usually sat while they watched movies. Zoey was explaining to Aen the seating arrangements, and the fact that Momma sat where Aen was when she watched movies with Zoey. His sister then jumped onto the couch to smile at him over the back.

"Can we start the movie now?"

"I have to clean up from dinner, Zo," he reminded her. "Do you want to start the movie without me?"

Zoey shook her head, her blonde curls flying. She bounced on the couch a couple times for emphasis, and Clark noticed Aen watching the whole scene with a happy smile. He smiled at her before chiding Zoey about having her shoes on the couch. Zoey plopped down on her bottom and yanked her shoes off. She was about to drop them on the floor when she apparently thought better of it.

"Wanna come see my room while Clark cleans up dinner?" she asked Aen.

"Sure," Aen smiled at the energetic girl. She glanced at Clark as she followed Zoey to the stairs. "Unless you need help?"

Clark smiled at her again and shook his head. The two females went upstairs, and Clark used just a little super speed to finish the dishes. He threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave when he was done. The machine dinged just before Aen and Zoey came back down the stairs, and he followed them into the living room with the bowl of popcorn.

Aen and Clark sat down, just enough space between them for Zoey to squeeze into. Clark handed the remote to Zoey, movie maven for the night, and turned off the lamp next to the couch.

As they watched the movie, Clark snuck glances at Aen. Her attention stayed on the movie and he reminded himself that this was the first time she had seen it. The popcorn was eaten by the time Ariel, the mermaid of the title, had sold her voice for a chance at true love. Clark glanced at Aen again and was startled to see tears in her eyes.

Clark extended his arm along the back of the couch and lightly touched Aen's shoulder. She turned to look at him, and he mouthed, 'Are you okay?'

Aen smiled, wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. She turned back to the movie, and after a few moments, Clark did too. When Ursula, the overweight villain of the film, began to grow with stolen power, Zoey scrambled into Clark's lap and reached for Aen's hand. Aen moved closer on the couch so she could hold Zoey's hand comfortably. Clark thrilled at the feel of her thigh against his and reminded himself that not only was Zoey here, nothing could happen with his new neighbor anyway. He wasn't human, and there was no witch, evil or otherwise, that could change that.

As soon as the credits started rolling, Zoey jumped out of Clark's lap and turned on the lamp. She darted to the video player and took out the movie, putting it away. She pulled another video off the shelf and came back to Clark, her eyes big.

"One more?" Zoey asked.

Clark groaned. The movie she had chosen was the longest one she owned, and it was already after nine.

"It's already passed bedtime, Zo," he reminded her.

"Please? Special cuz Aen's here?" Zoey coaxed.

Clark looked at Aen. "Can you stay awhile longer?"

Aen smiled and Clark felt it all the way to his gut.

"Sure," she answered. "I'd like that."

Zoey squealed with excitement, but Clark had some rules to keep himself out of as much trouble as possible.

"First, you need to get your jammies on and get ready for bed."

"Okay!" Zoey raced up the stairs and was gone.

"She likes you a lot," Clark told Aen, although he meant that he liked her too.

Aen blushed slightly and bit her lip. "I like her a lot, too."

Clark knew she was telling him more than just what she had said as well. He couldn't stop the grin that lifted his mouth at the knowledge.

"What's the next movie about?" Aen asked him after a few silent minutes.

Clark gave her a brief synopsis of the fantasy adventure. When he was done, Zoey came bounding back into the room wearing a set of Hello Kitty pajamas.

"Brush your teeth?" Clark asked automatically as she rejoined them on the couch.

Zoey gave him a quick smacking kiss to show him she had. Instead of forcing her way back between Clark and Aen, who hadn't moved apart, Zoey cuddled back onto Clark's lap.

Halfway into the second movie Zoey fell asleep. Clark carried his sister upstairs and tucked her in. Since Aen had never seen this movie, either, they finished watching it together before Clark walked Aen to the door.

"I had fun tonight," Aen said.

_We should do it again sometime,_ Clark wanted to say, but he knew going down that path with her would be more serious than he could ever allow any relationship to be.

"Me, too," he said instead. "Good night, Aen."

"Night, Clark."

Clark closed the door after her, his heart aching from the disappointment he had so easily sensed from her. But making her think he wasn't really interested would be kinder than her knowing he wanted her and not knowing why he couldn't do anything about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought, emphasis or telepathic conversation. The scenes in this chapter overlap slightly. Hopefully it isn't too confusing.

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Jisin parked one of the farm's two trucks in the middle of downtown Smallville and looked over at Aen. Her cousin seemed sad. Aen was staring out the window, but Jisin doubted she was seeing anything. It had been a little over two weeks since Aen had gone to the Kent farm to watch a movie with Clark and Zoey, and she hadn't seen them since.

If it weren't for the fact that she didn't want to encourage Aen's affection for Clark Kent, Jisin would have told her to call or go over on her own instead of waiting to hear from Clark. But the fact was that Jisin knew it wouldn't be a good idea, and she was slightly relieved that Clark hadn't tried to contact Aen.

Though why he wouldn't have was beyond her. Jisin had only met him the one time at the Talon, but she had easily seen his fascination with Aen. And from what Aen had told her, Clark and Aen had gotten along very well the other times they had been together.

He hadn't seemed like the kind of person to play with another person's feelings, but then again Aen was a much better judge of people than she was, and Aen had been confused by Clark's behavior.

Aen turned her attention away from the window and to the papers in her lap, handing the hardware list to Jisin. Jisin tucked the paper into her pocket. She was going to the hardware store to place an order while Aen went to the bank to make a deposit from one of their offshore holdings. The mine was doing as well as they had expected.

"You okay, Aen?" Jisin asked softly.

Aen smiled brightly, but her green eyes didn't light up. "Right as rain."

Jisin sighed. It would probably be a better idea to confront Aen at home where she'd have the support of Zin and Sar.

"So we'll meet back at the truck when we're done, right?"

"Yes," Aen answered.

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Aen walked into Smallville Savings and Loan and went straight into the teller line. She had filled the deposit slips out before leaving the house so her bank trip would be as short as possible. It wouldn't take Jisin long to place the order at the hardware store, and they both had things to do back at the farm.

Glancing at the people at each of the teller windows, Aen spotted Martha and Zoey Kent at the exact moment that Zoey spotted her. The little girl tugged on her mother's sleeve and pointed to Aen, waving with her other arm. Martha followed her daughter's gaze and smiled at Aen. Aen smiled back, waving at Zoey at the same time.

Martha concluded her business and left the window, approaching Aen where she was waiting in line. Zoey hugged Aen's leg and beamed up at her when Aen smiled and rested a hand on the little girl's head.

"Hello, Mrs. Kent," she corrected herself when the older woman gave her a look, "uh, Martha. It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Aen," Martha smiled. "I wanted to thank you for coming over that Friday, Zoey didn't stop talking about it for four days."

Aen wanted to ask if Clark had talked about it at all, but she simply smiled and answered, "I enjoyed myself, too."

The line moved and the next open teller would be Aen's.

"I'll make this quick since it's almost your turn," Martha said. "Zoey and I are meeting Clark and Jonathan down the street for ice cream, would you like to join us?"

Aen wanted to, but she hesitated before making her decision. Unless she wanted speeches from Jisin and Zin, she couldn't seek Clark out.

"Thank you, another time maybe, but Jisin is waiting for me and we have a lot to do at the farm."

"Alright," Martha replied. "Another time. I'll hold you to it. Come on, Zoey."

"Bye, Aen!" Zoey called as she scampered after her mother.

Aen waved and moved to the now-open teller window to make the deposits.

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"Momma, did you ask Mary's mommy if I could stay at her house Thursday?" Zoey asked, bouncing up and down in front of Martha so she couldn't move more than a few steps away from the front of the bank.

"Not yet, sweetheart," Martha answered.

"Can Aen watch me 'stead?"

Martha smiled. Clark had been sullen since the night Aen had come over, and Martha knew it was because her son was once more wishing he was human and could date normally. She wanted her son to have as much of a normal life as possible. Perhaps Aen was special enough to be trusted with Clark's secret eventually. There was something about the younger woman that Martha had immediately liked.

Thursday Clark and Lex were going to a basketball game in Metropolis and she and Jonathan had a farmer's association meeting to go to. Would Aen being at their house when Clark got home from Metropolis prompt him to act?

"I guess we could ask her," she answered her hyper daughter.

"Okay!"

With that, Zoey took off, back into the bank. Laughing, Martha shook her head and turned to follow her daughter. Only to be helped along by a man pushing her roughly into the building.

"Bad mistake, letting your kid get away from you, lady," he snarled, pressing something into her back.

A gun! Zoey had just run back into the bank in front of a group of armed men.

"Everyone stay calm and no one has to get hurt," one of the robbers said as they drew near the counter.

Martha pled with her eyes for Aen to hold onto Zoey. The young woman inclined her head slightly and picked the little girl up.

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Aen was scared out of her mind. Not for herself, of course, but for the little girl in her arms and the terrified woman being held by one of the robbers. Martha had a gun pointed into her side.

Aen supposed she could use heat vision to make the robber holding Martha drop the gun, but it wouldn't do anything about the three other men. And it would probably just escalate the tension of the situation.

Zoey was trembling in her arms, and Aen stepped out of the way when one of the robbers approached the teller at the window she had just finished conducting business at. It was incredibly bad timing, because the poor woman had just finished reaching under her counter for the silent alarm button.

"Because of miss stupid here, all of you are going into the vault," the robber who appeared to be in charge shouted. "Where's the bank president?"

An older man shakily raised one arm.

"Keys," the lead robber demanded.

The bank president handed them over without a whimper. He led the way into the bank vault, which stood open for business use, the bank's customers and tellers following quietly. The one security guard had already been knocked out, and one of the robbers dragged him into the steel-reinforced room.

Using a crow bar, the robbers tore open a few of the safety deposit boxes, dumping the contents into a duffel bag.

"Any of these belong to Luthor?"

The bank president hastily pointed out two boxes. They were emptied like the others.

"And other way out of this place than the front door?"

The lead robber pointed his gun at Aen and Zoey. Zoey whimpered, and Aen shielded the little girl with her own body as best she could.

"Leave them alone," Martha cried from the back of the vault.

Aen hadn't been able to get close enough to give Zoey back to her mother.

"Shut up!" one of the other robbers yelled. "Be quick, old man, or their deaths will be on your conscience."

"Under the store room. There's an old storm shelter. It still has an exit that leads into the back alley. The key is on my key ring."

The robber who had yelled at Martha grabbed Aen's arm. "You two are coming with us. If the old man told the truth, you'll be fine."

"Please," Aen said softly. "Just take me, the little girl should stay with her mother."

"She should have thought of that before she ran to you," he snarled back.

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Clark walked down Main Street toward the bank. A redhead had come into the ice cream parlor, making him think of Aen. Unable to sit and stare at the girl, Clark had told his father he needed some fresh air and went to walk to meet his mother and sister.

In truth, he hadn't stopped thinking about Aen since the night sixteen days ago when she had come over to watch the movie with he and Zoey. It hadn't helped that Zoey had talked about Aen all the time for the first few days afterward. His sister still brought Aen up every once in awhile, but she was no longer the main topic of discussion.

He missed Aen. It was strange after knowing her for so short a time, but it was true. But Clark wasn't sure he could stand to just be friends with her, so he had kept his distance. Clark sighed. Sometimes being super-strong (among other things) really sucked.

As he walked toward the bank, he noticed Jisin sitting on the hood of a truck, a newspaper in her hands. She seemed to sense him staring, because she lifted her head and looked straight at him, smiling after a momentary hesitation. He adjusted his stride to walk toward her, smiling as he drew closer.

"Hi, Jisin, right?"

She nodded. Her jet-black hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but she still seemed on the business side of things, probably because she was once more reading the Wall Street Journal.

He hesitated for a second, but couldn't help asking, "Is Aen with you?"

"Yes, she went to the bank while I was running another errand. I'm just waiting for her so we can go back home."

Clark nodded. "That's where my mom and my sister are. Maybe they ran into each other."

His attention was suddenly caught by the distant sound of police sirens. It would be another few seconds before they would be audible to the human ear at the speed they were traveling. He didn't notice, but Jisin's head had snapped around too.

Jisin scooted off the hood of the truck, leaving her paper where it was and said, "You know, I think I'm going to go meet her, I don't know what's taking her so long and we do have a lot to do today."

"I'll come with you," he said, both of them already moving. "I was coming to find them anyway."

By the time they reached Smallville Savings and Loan, the police were already there. They were pushed back and barriers were placed around the front of the bank. A masked man could be seen through the door holding a gun to the head of a woman kneeling in front of him. Clark recognized her as Mrs. Adler, one of the bank's tellers.

Clark used his x-ray vision to note that most of the people inside were locked in the vault. He spotted his mother by the healed break in her right arm where a horse had kicked her three years ago. There was no child-size skeleton visible in the vault, though. Where was Zoey? He scanned the rest of the building, finding three armed men in a back room. A young woman was with them holding what had to be his sister. Was the young woman Aen?

He had to help them. He moved away, forgetting Jisin was beside him.

"Clark, where are you going? Your mom and sister are in there, and so is my cousin. Don't you care what happens to them?"

"Of course, I do!" he barked. "I need to go get my father, he's just down the street a few blocks."

"No, he's not," Jisin answered back. "He's right there."

Sure enough, Jonathan was running toward them. Clark quickly filled him in on the basics, unable to assure his father that their loved ones were okay in front of Jisin. At least verbally. Clark met Jonathan's eyes and gave the tiniest of nods, letting the other man know Martha and Zoey were okay so far.

The three of them kept to the front of the quickly gathering crowd. The police were trying to communicate with the visible robber through a megaphone, but he wasn't responding in any way.

Clark refocused on Zoey and what he thought was Aen. One of the robbers in the same room had his gun pointed at the pair. The man's skeleton began tossing it's head and then fired on the two females. Clark clenched his jaw to keep from yelling as the figures fell, Zoey cradled under the woman's body. Both of their hearts continued to beat, and Clark breathed out slowly through his nose, seeing red. If they died, Clark would hunt down and kill everyone involved in this.

Beside him, Jisin made a soft, nervous sound. Clark wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to lend support. He knew from his talks with Aen that she and Jisin were sisters more than cousins. Jisin must be scared out of her mind. She was taking the situation remarkably well.

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Aen kept herself and Zoey as far as possible from three of the robbers when they reached the storeroom. The fourth had stayed in the main room of the bank so the cops that would soon be outside would see him holding a gun to one of the hostages. The woman who had pressed the silent alarm was the chosen human shield.

Panicking when she realized that the robbers might take her and Zoey with them for safe passage, Aen reached out telepathically to the closest one.

_Let them go, armed robbery is bad enough, you want to go away for kidnapping and child endangerment too?_

Evidently it was the wrong tack to take. The man tossed his head a couple times as if to shake something loose, then pulled the trigger on his gun. Aen spun at super speed so that her body was between Zoey and the bullets. When the first one hit her, she fell to the ground, careful to cradle Zoey's body.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" the lead robber yelled.

The man hesitated, probably afraid the other man would think him crazy. "She looked at me funny."

The other robber swore colorfully and went back to trying to find the right key to get them out.

Thinking them out of the way, the one who had fired moved to join the other two in the far corner of the room.

Zoey whimpered and looked as if she might cry out, so Aen whispered, "Shh, Zo, it's okay. I'm fine, we just need to wait for the bad men to go away so they don't know we weren't hurt, okay?"

Zoey's blue eyes were wide, but she nodded.

"You're special," the youngest Kent whispered a few seconds later.

Tears came to her eyes as Aen thought of the strong possibility of never seeing the little girl in her arms again. By exposing herself this way, she had guaranteed that the Council would pull all of them out of Smallville, and perhaps even away from Earth completely.

She couldn't let Zoey get hurt when she could prevent it, though. And besides, she hadn't altered human history in any way by saving Zoey. If she hadn't been here in the first place, Zoey never would have come back in the bank.

And maybe, just maybe, the Council didn't have to find out.

"Zoey, if anyone else finds out what I did, I'll have to go away."

"I won't tell," Zoey whispered back, her arms tightening around Aen's neck. "I promise. Don't go 'way, Aen."

Even without using her mind-reading ability, Aen knew Zoey was telling the truth.

"As long as no one finds out, I can stay for awhile."

Fifteen feet away, the robber that had fired the gun was staring at them suspiciously. Aen was sure the lack of blood was confusing. The other robbers, however, didn't seem to care whether or not they had been dispatched. The leader had finally located the correct key on the bank president's key ring and was opening the hatch to the old storm cellar. They were going to get away.

Aen smiled grimly. They wouldn't get far.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought or emphasis. Underlined signifies telepathic conversation.

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Because most of the robbery was caught on the surveillance tapes and because she had someone else's child with her, Aen was allowed to leave the bank after only a brief interview with the police.

She hurried outside and past the police barricade, anxious that the Kents should know that Zoey was safe. Martha was already with her husband and son, and she cried out in relief when she saw Aen coming toward them, Zoey safe in her arms.

Aen was unable to hand Zoey off to Martha before she was pulled into Martha's embrace with the girl.

"Thank God you're both safe," Martha cried as she hugged them to her.

Aen allowed herself to return the embrace with the arm that wasn't holding Zoey. It had been so long since she had felt a motherly embrace that tears welled in her eyes. Seeing Jisin waiting impatiently behind Martha, Aen forced herself to blink the tears back and pull herself together. She carefully transferred Zoey to Martha and turned to hug Jisin.

"Thank goodness no one was hurt," Jisin said aloud. To only Aen she thought, We're going to have to take care of this, aren't we?

Yes, but just the two of us, Aen answered. I don't want any of this to get back to the Council before it has to. Our mission here isn't done, but if they found out about this they might pull us out early and Earth would be left to deal with the consequences.

Aen was shocked and overwhelmingly pleased when Clark hugged her next. When she pulled back and met his eyes, she was glad to realize he had been concerned for not only Zoey, but her as well. It meant a lot more to her than it should. Catching the knowing, sad look on Jisin's face, Aen backed away from him slowly.

"I overheard someone saying that there were reports of shots being fired," Clark said. "Are you sure no one was hurt?"

Aen shrugged, "One of them shot at me, but he must have had blanks in his gun, because they hurt a little when they hit, but nothing penetrated."

"Oh, God," Martha cried softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Seizing the opening, Aen said carefully, "I'm sure I'll be fine, but I _am_ a little tired."

"Come on," Jisin urged, easily following Aen's train of thought. "I'll get you home and you can rest."

"Thank you again for helping my daughter," Jonathan added as Aen and Jisin began to move away.

"You're welcome," Aen answered softly.

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When they climbed in the truck, Aen handed Jisin a lump of metal.

"What's this?" Jisin asked.

"The bullets and shells," Aen answered. "I compressed and pocketed them just before the police came in. Zoey kept her head buried in my neck, so she didn't notice."

Jisin nodded as she started the truck and backed out, carefully making her way through the heavy traffic on Main Street caused mostly by rubber-neckers. "Good thinking. So, what _is_ the plan?"

"Catch up with the robbers, since I assume you paid attention to which way they went, tie them up for law enforcement and replace the bullets in the gun of the one who shot me with blanks."

Once Jisin was clear of the traffic and Aen was sure no one was paying them any particular attention, Aen nodded. Jisin turned the opposite direction they would have taken to go to the Smith farm and sped up. Completely out of sight on the open road, Jisin pulled off onto the shoulder and parked the truck.

"Just leave it here?" she asked.

Aen nodded, climbing out of the vehicle. "We don't have time to move it. The police should figure out before too long which way they headed."

Jisin pulled two pairs of gloves from beneath her seat before closing the door. She tossed one pair to Aen and put the other on. She glanced at her cousin and grimaced.

"How are we going to hide our identities?" Jisin asked. "We don't have time to get our uniforms, and they'd ask questions if we did anyway."

Aen tapped the side of her head lightly with a now-gloved fingertip.

Jisin flinched and asked gently, "Are you sure? It'll take a lot out of you, the others will notice."

"We don't have a choice," Aen answered. "I can avoid the others until tomorrow's meeting if you help me."

Jisin nodded reluctantly.

"Well, then,' Aen said, trying to lighten the mood. "Up, up and away!"

Jisin couldn't help but laugh and quickly joined Aen in the sky, moving at top speed to get to the bank robbers before anyone else did. When they spotted the speeding vehicle, Aen entered Jisin's mind with her orders.

Get ahead of the car and stop it as quickly as possible. I'll knock them out and change what I need to in their heads.

Be careful, Jisin thought back.

Jisin pulled ahead of the car and went down to it's level, holding onto the front bumper and exerting an equal amount of strength toward the back of the car so it slowed quickly and then stopped. Before the men inside had the time to react, Aen did her thing and they slumped forward, out cold.

"What did you change?" Jisin asked curiously as she began pulling the men from their car.

Aen, resting heavily against the vehicle with one hand at her temple, answered, "The leader knew the one who shot me had a temper, so I made it so he put the blanks in the gun in case something happened. The one who fired the gun will still be able to be prosecuted for attempted murder. And of course, I simply blanked out what stopped the car. That little mystery can just remain unsolved."

Jisin nodded. "Are you going to stay here while I go get blanks to fit the gun and something to tie them up with?"

"Yes," Aen answered. "And make sure to get the blanks at an ammo store far enough away that the Smallville Police won't go to them and ask questions."

Jisin nodded again and took off at top speed. She was back two minutes later and, still with gloves on so her fingerprints wouldn't have the police looking for another accomplice, she made the necessary exchange of ammo for blanks. When they were sure everything they came to do was done, Aen and Jisin headed back to their truck, Jisin staying close to Aen in case her cousin needed her support.

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Clark had to wait ten minutes after his family got home to be able to leave, Zoey unwilling to stop hugging him for several minutes. He could imagine that Aen being shot at with blanks wasn't much different to the seven-year-old than real bullets would have been. Except for the happier ending, of course. His own heart had nearly stopped when he had thought the two of them had been killed.

Never wanting his sister to doubt that he'd be there to comfort her when she needed it, Clark put off going after the bank robbers as long as he thought was safe. When Zoey was finally okay with him leaving, he went outside and took to the air.

He'd been able to fly since shortly after graduating high school, and it was now his preferred method of following people. He had to be careful of course, flying high enough that no one on the ground would be able to recognize him and low enough that he didn't appear on radar. But it was safer than speeding along the ground. There were much fewer obstacles to worry about in the air.

Clark was only twenty-six miles outside of town when he spotted the robbers' car. It was at the side of the road, the robbers tied up beside it. Noting that they were all unconscious, Clark landed lightly beside them and frowned. Who had done this?

It obviously wasn't law enforcement. Clark walked around the car, examining it with his x-ray vision. There were marks on the road under the car that indicated it had been stopped suddenly with great force, but the brakes didn't show any signs of excessive force. He stopped cold when he noticed two hand-shaped impressions on the underside of the front bumper. Someone of immense strength had stopped the car and taken care of the robbers without anyone being the wiser. How was that possible?

Was there a new meteor freak in town that had the strength to rival his own? Since what the robbers had taken was still in the car in the bags they had carried out of the bank, Clark could only assume the new power in town was on the side of good. Clark only hesitated a moment before bending the metal back to it's correct shape and wiping the bumper down with his sleeve. If there were someone out there as strong as him who didn't use their powers for personal gain, he would do what he could to protect them.

Seconds later, Clark heard sirens headed in his direction. With one last look to make sure the robbers were securely disabled for the police, Clark pushed off the ground and headed for home.

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A tall, very powerfully built man answered the door seconds after Martha knocked. He smiled politely down at her, but the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Are you Mr. Smith?" Martha asked, smiling warmly. When he nodded, she continued, "I'm Martha Kent, from the next farm over. Aen is friends with my son and daughter, Clark and Zoey."

"Of course," a female voice behind the mountain of a man answered. Mr. Smith moved aside and a young blonde woman no taller than Martha moved forward to warmly clasp Martha's hand in her own. "I'm Sar, this is my husband, Zin. Won't you come in, Mrs. Kent?"

"Thank you, but no," Martha answered. "I'm on my way into town. I came by to again thank Aen for keeping Zoey safe during the bank robbery yesterday and to invite you all to a picnic."

"Bank robbery?" Zin echoed, his face darkening.

Martha frowned, but Sar cut in before she could ask why he didn't know his own housemate had been in a bank hold-up.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent, that would be lovely. I'll have Aen call you for the details."

"That's fine," Martha responded. "So we'll see you then."

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"Where are they?" Zin asked when Martha had left.

Sar put a calming hand on his arm. Aen might be the official leader of their group, but that didn't stop Zin from constantly worrying about her. He was so overprotective of the redhead that Sar was sometimes sure Aen would one day get fed up and order him to leave her alone. But it hadn't happened yet. Sar could only conclude that Aen had more patience than the rest of them combined.

"They got back from the meeting with the Council about an hour ago. They got permission to look into Luthor's holdings and background, so they're in the study doing that."

Zin took a step in that direction before turning to look at her again, "Why did you accept the human's invitation?"

Sar shook her head at her husband in a disgruntled fashion. "Aen has told us that _Martha_ is a very nice woman. And this is Smallville, Kansas. It looks odd if you're too private in this part of the country. Neighbors do things together all the time. Personally, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to do something to welcome us to the area."

"There is no point getting attached to the people around here," he reminded her.

"We all know that, Zin. But we can't become xenophobic, either, or we'll never find a home."

Zin grunted, and together they headed for the study to confront Aen and Jisin. The other two women were at a desk, Aen reading the computer screen over Jisin's shoulder as the darker-haired of the two hacked into Luthor's private files. Having been to worlds where the computers were thousands of times more advanced than those of Earth, any one of them would have made a world-class hacker, but Jisin was the best with technology and Aen, as a good leader, played up each person's strengths.

"Something you two want to tell us?" Zin asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Aen straightened, and after laying a hand briefly on Jisin's shoulder in a gesture that clearly said 'keep working', she turned toward them. Lifting her chin, Aen stared Zin down until some of the tension had gone from his broad shoulders.

"You obviously found out about the bank," she remarked. "Circumstances made it impossible for us to come get you before dealing with the robbers. I didn't think you needed to know about it, and the Council certainly doesn't."

Zin stepped closer to the redhead and Sar held her breath. Would Aen take the action as a challenge? Sar closed her eyes in lost hope when Zin spoke.

"The Kent woman wanted to thank you for keeping her daughter safe." He paused to draw a breath, "Does that mean she doesn't realize that you actually did _save_ the child? You know we're not supposed to interfere in the humans' lives."

Aen's green eyes glinted dangerously, and Sar took an unconscious step backward. There was rage in that look. Even though Zin was taller by at least a foot, Aen was suddenly looking down her nose at him.

"Are you telling me I should have let that innocent little girl die?" Aen asked softly. "If it wasn't for me, she never would have been in that bank in the first place. She came back in after her mother had already left in order to speak _to me_. If you have a problem with the way I'm handling things, maybe you should ask the Council for a new group leader."

Aen took a step forward and Zin took one back, his hands raised slightly in surrender.

"I'm sorry, Aen. I wasn't thinking. Of course you should have saved her, even if her presence there had nothing to do with you." Zin sighed and ran a hand through his brown locks. "I just don't want the Council to have any reason to remove any of us from the team."

"And as long as they don't find out," Aen assured, "they won't have one."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought or emphasis. Underlined is telepathic communication.

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Aen called Martha later that day. After Aen assured the other woman that she was perfectly fine after the ordeal the day before, Martha and Aen discussed the picnic, which they mutually decided to have on Saturday. A barbeque at the man-made lake and beach that had once been a stone quarry was chosen since the weather was supposed to be particularly nice that day.

Although Aen argued about it, Martha wouldn't hear of Aen and her friends bringing anything to the gathering but themselves. This was the Kents' way of welcoming the Smiths and Jisin and Aen to Smallville, and as such, the Kents would be hosting. Once Aen had given in, Martha changed the subject.

"I have a favor to ask, and I'm sorry it's such short notice, but with all the excitement at the bank, I never got the chance to ask you."

"What is it?" Aen asked.

"I need a babysitter for Zoey tomorrow," Martha answered. "It would be from about five in the afternoon until Clark gets back from a trip to Metropolis."

"I'd love to," Aen said softly.

She had missed Zoey almost as much as she had missed Clark, and the opportunity to spend time with the little girl was too good to pass up. Seeing Clark for at least a few minutes when he came home and she left was an added bonus.

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When Clark and Lex walked into the Kent's house, Aen was waiting with a jean jacket already on.

"Aen," Clark said in obvious surprise.

Aen smiled tensely at them both. "Thank goodness you're home. Zoey's in bed, she ate fine and played herself into exhaustion. But I really need to go. One of our horses is going into labor and Zin thinks it's going to be breach. I'm the only one who has experience with breach deliveries."

"Do you need me to drive you home?" Clark asked.

Aen finally looked Clark in the eye, and their gazes met and held. Aen seemed to relax slightly as Clark tensed a bit. Lex watched the odd balancing of worry in fascination. Aen smiled softly at Clark and Clark's mouth curved immediately in response.

"Thank you, but no, Jisin's on her way. She was going to watch Aen for me until you got back, but you're here now, so everything will be fine."

Just then the headlights of a truck were seen and Aen sighed in relief.

"She's here. Before I go, are you sure you don't need us to bring anything to the beach picnic on Saturday?"

Clark shook his head, "Just yourselves."

Aen smiled again. "In that case, I'll see you then. Bye, Clark. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Luthor."

Lex waited until Clark had closed the door behind Aen to ask, "Will Jisin be going to this picnic?"

Clark smiled slyly. "If she is, are you going to ask to be invited?"

Lex raised his eyebrows at Clark. "I _did_ just take you to a game, it would be only..."

"I was teasing, Lex," Clark cut off the older man. "Of course you're invited, you're just busy so often and honestly I forgot about it until I saw her. And as long as we've known each other, you've never really struck me as the picnic type."

Lex smiled at the unconscious way Clark emphasized 'her' when referring to Aen. Why hadn't the younger man made a move yet? It had been obvious, to Lex at least, that Aen was very much interested in Clark, so it couldn't be like it had been when Clark was in high school and Lana Lang had only seen him as a friend.

"I think I can handle it, Clark," he answered, thinking to himself, _It'll be worth getting sand everywhere just to see you two make moon eyes at each other wearing swim suits._

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The Kents had just taken most of the stuff for the barbecue out of their trucks when Lex pulled up in one of his many sports cars, followed almost immediately by the truck Clark recognized as the one Jisin had been sitting on the hood of the day of the bank robbery. Clark waved to the new arrivals before lifting two of his mother's bags and heading for the area his mother had chosen to set up their site.

He watched in slight jealousy as Zoey ran over to greet Aen with a hug. The redhead was wearing shorts over her swimsuit while the other two young women had simply worn theirs without a cover, Jisin and Sar in two pieces and Aen in a one piece; Zin had on a pair of swim trunks and sandals, just as Clark did. Lex was slightly more dressed, a brand new t-shirt over shorts that had probably never been worn before.

Clark almost laughed when Martha admonished Lex to put some sunscreen on. His friend _was _very pale. As always, Lex didn't mind Martha's mothering. Clark knew it was because of the loss of his own mother at such a young age that Lex had always appreciated the way Martha treated him. When everyone was together, Aen looked surprised when Martha hugged her, but Aen hugged back. Introductions were made all around and the younger adults spread blankets on the sand as Martha and Jonathan got the barbecue ready.

Zin and Sar settled on to one of the blankets, Jisin taking a place next to Sar and Lex sitting down beside her. Aen was still standing, looking across the man-made lake to the cliff that rose from the water straight across from them. It wasn't far across the water, probably only fifty feet. Zoey was flitting happily back and forth between himself, their parents and Aen.

Clark felt his face heat slightly as he watched Aen take off her shorts in preparation of going into the water. Jisin and Sar were showing much more skin than Aen in their modest two piece swim suits, but he didn't feel anything more than aesthetic admiration for their physical perfection when he looked at them. When he looked at Aen in her simple one-piece… well, he felt a lot more than simple admiration.

"Clark," his mother called. "Can you go get the cooler with the drinks from your father's truck?"

"Sure, Mom," he answered, disappointed in having to take his eyes off Aen.

He accomplished his task as fast as was _humanly_ possible, keeping in mind the large and varied audience that might notice use of his powers.

"Where's Aen?" Clark asked Jisin as he came back from the truck, brought the cooler to his parents and then rejoined the others on the large blanket.

Jisin shrugged, but Lex's mouth fell open and he pointed up and across the man-made lake. Martha gasped and Zoey squealed with excitement when they looked where Lex had pointed. Aen had just finished climbing to the top of the quarry cliff and was now standing at the very edge, looking down into the deep end of the quarry pool. Clark's stomach fell to his toes and he considered blowing his cover to speed across the lake and stop her from getting hurt before remembering that there were green meteor rocks at the bottom of the lake at the deep end.

Clark paled. If she did get hurt, he wouldn't be able to get to her. Remembering after a moment the fact that meteor rocks had been disappearing all over the place, Clark squinted through the water. He could see the outline of rocks, but in his panic he wasn't sure if any of them were meteor rocks or not.

Zin's calm voice cut through his fear, "Don't worry, Aen knows what she's doing. One of her favorite places we ever lived was Hawaii, and she learned to cliff dive there. This is nothing."

Sure enough, Aen raised her arms over her head and launched herself into the air, completing a beautiful triple forward tuck on her way down. There was hardly any splash as she made contact with the water, and when she came back up, Jisin whistled loudly and Sar and Lex applauded. Zin was frowning thoughtfully, but Clark was just happy Aen was okay. Zoey danced around with excitement and Clark caught hold of her to hug her.

She hugged him back, whispering, "Aen can fly like you."

"Not exactly, Zo."

But the little girl had already moved on to her next activity, scooping sand into a yellow bucket the shape of a castle tower. By that time, Aen had swum back to the beach, and she sat down close to Zoey. Clark joined them, trying hard not to be distracted by the water running down Aen's chest to disappear beneath her one-piece swimsuit. He was almost sorry he had promised himself long ago to never use his x-ray vision for personal enjoyment.

"Do you want me to bury you in the sand, Zo?"

Zoey nodded in answer to her brother's question, handing her own shovel to Aen. Sometimes Clark felt like asking his mother to talk to Zoey about assuming Aen would do whatever the little girl wanted, but, inevitably, Aen always did help out or play with Zoey as the case warranted. His family had only known Aen for a few weeks, but already she was a bigger part of their lives than he had realized. How much closer could they get before he would have to push her away for her own good?

Determined not to dwell on what he couldn't have when everyone was together and happy, Clark concentrated on piling more sand on Zoey's legs. Once Zoey was sufficiently buried, Clark leaned back and watched Aen shape the pile. He smiled, remembering when Aen had watched _The Little Mermaid_ with Zoey and himself. Aen was now turning his sister into a mermaid.

Martha glanced over at them, and, seeing what they were doing, took her camera out of her beach bag. Martha snapped a few shots while Aen was finishing up the details on Zoey's tail.

When Aen dusted off her hands, Martha asked, "Aen, will you take a picture of Zoey and Clark and myself?"

"Of course," Aen smiled.

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"Daddy, too!" Zoey demanded.

"Jonathan, can you come here for a minute?"

Jonathan looked down at the hamburgers on the grill and hesitated.

"I'll watch them for you, Mr. Kent." Jisin took the spatula from Jonathan's hand, Lex next to her.

"Thank you, Jisin."

"Sure, go get in the picture before your daughter wriggles out of her tail."

Jonathan laughed lightly and went to join his family on the sand.

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When Jonathan was settled next to Martha, Aen took a few pictures of the family. After her third shot, a hand on her elbow stopped her. She looked up into Lex's eyes, studying them for a few silent moments.

"Get in the picture," he lightly commanded.

For the first time Aen truly smiled at Lex, and suddenly Lex understood why she already meant so much to Clark. She was goodness and light personified, a female version of Clark himself. Lex had always scoffed at the idea of finding your other half, but now he knew that was exactly what Clark had found in Aen.

Glancing at the younger man, who he considered his best and only true friend, Lex wondered if Clark realized just what he would lose if he let Aen leave Smallville.

Lex turned back to Aen and she whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he mouthed back, smiling.

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Aen sat down next to Clark, and he looped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. They were hip to hip. Aen looked up into his blue eyes and got lost. Lex's command to "smile, everyone" broke her out of the trance, and she turned her face to the camera, smiling happily. Lex took several pictures before Zoey could no longer contain herself and wriggled right out of the sand pile. Everyone laughed, and Zoey tackled her brother and Aen, showering both of them with sand. Jonathan went back to the grill and announced the hamburgers and hot dogs would be ready in just a couple of minutes.

"C'mon, Zoey. Let's get washed off," Aen suggested.

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Zoey took hold of one of Aen's hands, and held hands with Clark on the other side. Together the three of them walked into the water, not noticing Lex behind them on the sand, taking more pictures. Martha stood beside him, and when he lowered the camera, she smiled at him.

"You know how he feels about her, don't you, Martha?"

"Yes, Lex," she sighed. "He loves her; I just don't know if he knows it yet."

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"You don't sound too happy about it. She's perfect for him as far as I can tell." Lex grimaced, recalling his own two failed marriages to Desiree and Helen. "But maybe I'm not the best judge."

Martha lay a comforting hand on his arm.

"No, you're right. She is a wonderful young woman. But she _is_ leaving, and it's going to break Clark's heart."

"Maybe it's time for Clark to take another step forward in his life." Lex pondered aloud. "Maybe he should ask her to stay."

"Maybe," Martha echoed softly.

She rubbed her hand on Lex's arm, smiled at him one more time and went to help Jonathan with the hamburger fixings.

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The afternoon ended too quickly for Clark's taste. But it had been a great day. Everyone had gotten along, and his father had even been civil to Lex. Clark had gotten to spend hours with Aen, even allowing himself to touch her several times. Each time it had been more difficult to take his hands away from her, but each touch had been worth it. There were several times when he had wanted to kiss her, and it had been a physical pain not to be able to do so. But he had stopped, telling himself that he was already getting too attached to her, and that they had an audience. His excuses were wearing very thin.

They had just finished packing everything up. Zoey was already in his dad's truck, sound asleep, worn out from her day of play. Aen walked toward him. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt more than an hour ago, and her hair was pulled back in a quick but tidy braid. He smiled as she stopped in front of him, and she smiled back, a little sadness in the expression.

"Thank you for inviting all of us, it was a wonderful day," she said softly. "I wish it wouldn't end."

"It doesn't have to." The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to think, and he waited a second for his brain to catch up with his mouth. "Would you like to go to a movie with me?"

She bit her lip, smiling, and blushed softly, "I'd love to, but…you don't have to feel obligated just because I said that."

One corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked grin. "I don't; I just want to spend more time with you."

She smiled again, and Clark felt as if the space around them had suddenly become the center of the universe, as if everything revolved around the two of them.

"I'll go tell Zin."

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Aen skipped over to Zin. It was either skip or fly. She smiled at him.

"Clark asked me to a movie."

Zin frowned, "You can't go."

Aen glared at him, furious.

"I'm going. You can't give me orders, you're not my father."

Zin flinched and paled considerably. Aen covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. Tears sprang to her eyes.

"I am so sorry, you know I didn't mean to compare you to him. You're nothing like him, nothing. Please, please forgive me."

Zin sighed heavily and nodded. "Just…be careful, okay?"

"Thank you, Zin. I will be."

She threw her arms around his neck and let him pull her close, comforting him the best way she knew how.

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Lex walked over to Clark to say good-bye. Martha joined them, looking at her camera in Lex's hands.

"Martha, I have a dark room at the mansion. Since I wasn't able to bring anything for the barbecue, would you let me develop the pictures and make copies for everyone?"

"Of course, Lex, that's very generous of you."

"My pleasure, Martha."

Lex took the last picture on the roll, capturing the sunset over the quarry cliff. He then waited for the film to automatically rewind before taking it out and pocketing it, handing the camera back to Martha. She hugged Clark and waved to Lex, walking to the truck. Lex waited until the rest of the Kent family had driven away before he turned to Clark.

"Got any plans for tonight?"

"Yeah, I asked Aen to go to a movie. I'd invite you and Jisin, too, but I want to spend some time alone with her."

Lex smiled knowingly, "That's okay, Clark, you two need to spend some time alone together. The four of us can do something another time."

"Thanks. Give me a call tomorrow and we'll make plans."

"Alright, have a good night, Clark."

Lex strode away to his Porsche, got in and took off, too fast as usual.

Clark looked around for Aen, and his gut twisted. She was standing in Zin's embrace. The tall man had his eyes closed as he brushed a kiss against Aen's forehead. Aen smiled up at him and then turned away, tossing a good-bye wave over her shoulder. Zin's truck pulled away and Aen crossed quickly to stand by his side. Without a word, he turned to his own truck, holding the door open for her. She climbed in with a soft "thanks", but he didn't respond.

Clark could feel Aen stare at him as he pulled the truck onto the main road. He knew she was confused about how he was acting, but he couldn't seem to control the jealousy eating him up inside.

"Clark," Aen ventured softly, "is something wrong?"

Clark heaved a sigh and pulled the truck over to the side of the road. He turned off the engine and turned to look at her.

"Are you in love with Zin?"

Aen smiled delightedly, and Clark frowned, confused.

"Are you jealous, Clark?"

He almost got huffy, but then he considered how he felt about her. He didn't want there to be any more secrets between them than were absolutely necessary.

So he answered her truthfully, his voice soft, "Yes."

She smiled again before becoming serious. "Can you keep a secret, Clark?"

Clark thought about all the secrets he had kept for so long already and forced himself not to flinch. He nodded.

"I do love Zin, but not that way, not the way I…" she stopped, pale, and took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm not _in_ love with him. I never have been and I never will be. Zin is my half-brother."

"Your…" Clark smiled so hard he was afraid his face would crack. "Thank God."

Their eyes locked and Aen blushed. Clark lifted one hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, caressing her soft cheek with the back of his fingers. A tingle ran up his arm and he wondered if Aen felt it, too. Her eyes drifted closed and Clark could hear her heartbeat become faster. He mentally shook himself and pulled his hand away, starting the truck again.

As they drove, Aen told him that she and Zin shared a father, a cold man who didn't acknowledge her because of how it would change how other people would look at him. Clark had the feeling that she was being kind in her description of the man and wondered why. Was Aen's father dangerous? Was he the reason she had to move around so much? He wanted to tell her that he would never let anyone hurt her, but then he thought better of it. He couldn't be with her every second, no matter how much he might wish he could.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **_Italics_ signify thought or emphasis. Underlined is telepathic communication. Please keep in mind that this is AU. Jor El has never made any sort of appearance and neither did Dr. Swann. Clark knows nothing of Krypton.

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Aen and Clark decided on a psychological thriller that ended up having more than a little action. The theater had comfortable seats with arms that could either be lowered for use or raised and hidden out of the way. Clark and Aen lowered the ones on the outside of their seats but left the one between them up. Fifteen minutes into the movie a particularly tense situation arose onscreen and Aen reached for Clark's hand. Clark laced his fingers through hers. Ten minutes later, she hid her face on his shoulder, continuing to lean into him even when she almost immediately turned her head to once again watch the screen.

It was one of the most fulfilling two-hour spans Clark had ever spent.

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Out of habit, Clark drove home and parked before realizing he had done so. But when he reached to turn the key in the ignition to restart the truck, Aen stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm. She turned away and climbed out of the truck. Clark did the same.

"It's a nice evening and there's still plenty of light," she said as he came around the truck to stand beside her. "I think I'll just walk home."

Clark didn't want her to go but he knew he couldn't ask her to stay. Still, her name slipped from his lips in a plea, "Aen."

Aen lifted her dark green eyes to his blue ones. As had happened many times before, their gazes locked, making everything else fade away.

He breathed her name softly this time, a whisper of a caress, "Aen."

_What could one kiss hurt? _He had to taste her… just once. But any more than that and he might not be able to stop. And he would die before he hurt her. He bent his head down, but at the last moment, her eyes widened and she danced back a few steps. Clark let his hand drop. Seeing the panic in her gaze, he was only half-sorry that he had scared her away. She was going to be leaving anyway. The thought hurt, worse than anything he could remember, but at least this way he knew there never could have been anything between them, even if he hadn't been capable of accidentally killing her if he ever lost control of his passion.

"I'm sorry, Aen, I …"

"No, Clark," she begged softly, tears welling in her beautiful green eyes, "please don't apologize, I… I want you to kiss me. But… it can only be this once."

"Okay," he agreed softly, assuming that she didn't want to get any more involved since she wasn't staying in Smallville.

He moved slowly toward her, determined not to frighten her again, and pulled her gently to him. He lowered his mouth to hers and could have died of happiness when his lips met hers. She was soft and pliant. He touched his mouth to hers softly, sweetly, and slowly pulled his head away.

She looked up at him shyly and whispered, "Could I change that to this one time, instead of one kiss? You're the first man to kiss me, I'd like there to be more to remember."

Clark felt as if he had been given the key to the world's greatest treasure. No one else had ever kissed her! Since the only other time he had been kissed had been when Lana and Chloe were under the influence of the Niccodemus flower and the mind controller and when he was under the influence of the red meteor rocks, he wasn't exactly an expert, but he could share what he did know with her.

This time he pulled her closer still, his hands at her hips. Aen put her arms between them, her palms pressed open against his chest, as if to break free the second it went too far. She met him more than half way when he bent his head down to touch mouths with her again. He moved his lips tenderly over hers, molding them softly to her shape, memorizing each millimeter he came in contact with.

The sensations he experienced in each instant were overwhelmingly powerful, and he had to use every ounce of his self-control to keep from acting without thinking. Going for a big finish, he ran his hands around and down from her hips to her bottom, lifting her against him. Aen gasped and Clark took the opportunity presented to him, gently sliding his tongue inside her mouth.

Aen moaned at the sudden invasion and sank into his embrace, lowering her arms from his chest to loop them around his waist. Their tongues touched tentatively before swirling and tasting. Aen's hands worked Clark's shirt out of his waistband to caress the hot skin of his lower back. Clark slipped one of his hands under her shirt to caress the silky skin of her side. She groaned with pleasure and he suddenly pulled away.

"As much as I'd like this to continue, we need to stop now."

Aen nodded and averted her gaze. Clark moved back toward her and lifted her chin.

There were tears in her eyes again and Clark felt like his heart was being ripped out, "Please, don't be sorry about this."

"I could never be sorry," she promised softly. "That was the most beautiful and amazing thing I've ever experienced, and I'll treasure the memory always. I'm in love with you, Clark Kent."

With that devastating proclamation, Aen ran away from him. Clark walked slowly into the barn. His father was waiting for him, and from the look on Jonathan's face, he had seen and heard everything.

Jonathan gestured to an old tractor in one corner, "It's never gonna run again. Hit it, it might help."

Clark's jaw tightened and a muscle jumped along the right side. The next instant he was beside the old machine and his arm had made a hole all the way through it.

"It didn't help," Clark sighed, brushing small, stray bits of machinery from his sleeve. "There has never been a time when I wished so hard to be human. I love her."

"I know son, and I'm sorry."

"I'm not. As much as it hurts, I've never felt this way before and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Jonathan smiled sadly and walked with his son back to the house. Martha looked worried when she saw the despondent set of her son's powerful shoulders, but Jonathan shook his head at her, letting her know that now wasn't the time to ask questions.

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The next morning, Clark had an overwhelming need to see Aen. Leaving a note for his parents saying that he had gone on a walk to clear his head, he started in the direction of the ravine that was between his parent's property and the part of the Smith farm where the house was located. Just before he was about to break through the trees, he slowed to human speed. Across the clearing was Aen. Clark felt his heart clench when he realized she was staring into one of the abandoned quartz mines. She looked up and somehow, even across all that distance, their gazes met.

Clark watched, worried, as Aen turned away and walked into the mineshaft. The mine wasn't very sturdy, but she had already seen him, so he couldn't go at top speed to keep her out of trouble. He started jogging over there, but a minute later, when an ominous rumbling reached his ears, he took off like a shot.

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Aen walked down the mineshaft until she came to a dead end. Recognizing the irony, she let out a small sob. Then she got angry. Why did she have to fall in love with a man who was a member of a species so dramatically physically weaker than her own? The universe appeared to be conspiring against her. Releasing a growl of frustration, Aen slammed her fist into the nearest wall, inadvertently crushing a support beam.

An ominous rumbling greeted her before a section of the ceiling fell on her head. As the force of the blow brought her to her knees and then all the way to the floor, Aen's eyes fell on a large, blue, glowing crystal that had fallen with the rock and dirt of the mine ceiling. She had found another type of Kryptonite! As she drifted at the edge of consciousness, she realized this type must suppress their powers without hurting them.

The sound of crunching footsteps greeted her, and she had only a moment to wonder how Clark had reached her so fast before the rumbling got worse. She tried to scream at him, but even to herself, her voice was very quiet.

"Clark, run!"

Aen felt the weight of his body land on her just before she passed out.

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Aen came to slowly; her first conscious thought that Clark was at least still breathing. As gently as she could, she wiggled her way out from under him. When she sat up, her head spun. Her vision had become adjusted to the dark of the mine when she had first come in, but now it was so dark that she could barely make out shapes. Gently, she brushed dirt and rock from Clark's back, then the area around him. When she was sure he wouldn't be rolled onto anything that could hurt him, she ran her hands efficiently over his body to make sure nothing was broken. She wouldn't want to risk further injury by turning him over if something was seriously wrong.

Thankfully, his only injury appeared to be a cut on his forehead. His slightly sticky blood had already stopped flowing, so it must only be a minor scratch. Taking hold of his shoulder, Aen pushed harder than she would normally dare in order to roll him to his back. He moaned.

"Clark?"

"Aen? What..," he grunted as he sat up, and Aen had the feeling his head had spun much as hers first had, "…what happened?"

"I'm so sorry, Clark. I think the tunnel collapsed. I haven't checked it yet, but hopefully it will be easy to dig our way out."

"What are you apologizing for, it's not your fault." Aen bit her tongue, actually it was, but it would be a little difficult to explain that to him. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"How's your head?" Aen asked softly. "You have a small cut on your forehead."

She never would have forgiven herself if something worse had happened to him because of her tantrum.

"I do?" Clark sounded shocked.

Maybe it was because his injuries could have been so much worse.

Aen watched him lift his arm and heard his breath hiss out a moment later. He must have touched the wound. She crawled cautiously back the way they had come in, stopping only a few feet from where they had lain. She pushed on the dirt and rock piled in front of her. Nothing happened. She felt Clark move into place next to her.

"Nothing happened when I tried pushing. I guess we should try to dig a space near the ceiling of the shaft."

They both stood cautiously, relieved to discover that they could stand all the way upright. Apparently this part of the mine hadn't really been affected, other than the piece of the ceiling that had first been dislodged. They dug quietly for a few minutes, and then had to try another section when they ran into a wooden beam that wouldn't budge no matter how much they shoved at it. By the time they had tried all the way across the tunnel, Aen was exhausted. They hadn't been able to find an area to dig that there was any hope of being able to squeeze through, beams and large rocks blocked the way. But they had made small holes all the way through the rubble, so at least they didn't have to worry about running out of oxygen.

She sank to the floor, shaking. Her body was used to being invincible. She hadn't been this physically tired for a very long time. Clark felt his way toward her and wrapped his arms around her. Realizing suddenly that she couldn't hurt him, she burrowed into him, as close as possible.

"Clark, how long do you think it will be before they start looking for us?"

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Clark hugged Aen more tightly to him. Who knew how long he had before his powers returned and he wouldn't have this luxury. It was slighter lighter now that they had made the holes in the rubble, and he could just make her out when he peered closely.

"I don't know," he answered softly. "It will be at least a couple hours til my parents get worried. What about your brother?"

She shook her head. "He had an errand to run, he'll probably be gone for most of the day."

"We'll be fine," Clark said.

A shudder ran through Aen's body. "Oh, Clark, if something had happened to you because of me…"

"Aen, I love you. I couldn't not follow you."

Her breath caught and she released it in a soft sigh. "I love you, too."

They were both silent for a few minutes.

Clark broke the silence, his voice somehow small, "Aen, can I kiss you?"

Aen pulled slightly away and looked up at him, "Promise me something."

"Anything," he said, and he meant it.

"Whatever happens in this mine stays here."

"Okay."

Her lips were crushed to his in the next second, and Clark moaned softly. After last night, he had not expected to ever be able to kiss her again, and he certainly hadn't expected the opportunity to hold her. When Aen shifted to straddle his lap and felt her way to the buttons on his shirt, her mouth never leaving his, Clark realized the full extent of what she meant to have remain their secret. And even though it was one of the most selfish things he could have done, he welcomed it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **_Italics_ signify thought or emphasis. Underlined is telepathic communication.

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"Hello, Lex," Martha smiled as the billionaire businessman walked in through the open kitchen door.

"Good afternoon, Martha, you're looking as lovely as ever today."

Martha's smile widened and she laughed lightly. "If you're here to see Clark I'm afraid he's not home. He went for a walk this morning and hasn't come back yet. He probably went to see Aen."

"Actually, he was supposed to give me a call, but I decided to come by instead." Lex held up a manila envelope he was carrying. "I brought copies of the pictures. You and I can look through them while I wait if you'd like."

Martha started to nod eagerly before she suddenly frowned. "Everyone should be here to share them. I'll call and see if Aen can come over with Clark. Zoey should be home in another ten minutes from her play-date."

Lex nodded in acknowledgement. Martha told him to make himself at home, and he made his way to the couch in the living room. Martha approached him a few minutes later, a worried expression on her face.

"Aen's not home either, she left on foot this morning as well, and her housemates haven't seen her or Clark all day."

"I'm sure they're fine, Martha," Lex soothed. "They probably ran into each other and lost track of time."

Martha nodded slowly but didn't seem appeased. When Zoey arrived fifteen minutes later, Martha asked her daughter's friend Mary and the girl's mother to stay while she and Jonathan looked for Clark. Lex offered to help in the search. Unlike her mother, Zoey didn't seem at all worried about Clark, the two young girls heading for the shelves near the TV to pick out a movie to watch.

Another call was placed to the Smith farm, and Martha went out to get Jonathan from the barn as Lex waited for Jisin and Zin to show up. When everyone had gathered, Jisin reported that she had seen Aen that morning headed in the direction of the old mine that was located somewhat between the two properties. It was as good a place as any to begin searching as any, so the Kent and Smith trucks headed in that direction, Lex following in the sports car he had chosen to drive that day.

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"Clark, did you hear something?" Aen asked tiredly, snuggling tighter into him.

They had both put their clothes back on a couple hours ago, and Aen was now wearing Clark's flannel shirt on top of her own t-shirt. He had given it to her when he felt the goosebumps on her bare arms. Clark was plenty warm enough in his own t-shirt with Aen curled up on his lap, her upper torso plastered to his and their arms wrapped around each other.

"Hm?" he murmured, but a noise saved Aen from repeating herself.

"Clark? Aen?" a faint voice reached them.

Clark's eyes flew wide. "That's Lex."

They both scrambled to their feet and hurried to the rubble that blocked their escape.

"Lex?" Clark yelled through one of the holes they had earlier made. "We're down here!"

There was shouting and other noises from the other side of the blockade before a light shone through one of the holes.

This time it was Jonathan who said their names. "Clark? Aen? Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, Dad," Clark answered. "Neither one of us was hurt other than a scratch or bruise, and we were able to dig small holes for air. We just can't get out."

"Hold on just a minute, son."

Aen leaned against Clark's side as odd noises sounded through the air vents they had managed to dig. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, leaning down to press a light kiss on her still dusty forehead. A few seconds later Martha's voice floated through the same hole Jonathan had spoken to them through.

"There's big rock right under one of the holes you dug. We're going to pry it loose and expand the hole enough for you two to get out, so just sit tight for a few minutes."

"Thanks, Mom," Clark answered before moving himself and Aen back.

He didn't want to risk her getting hurt by anything that might be jostled loose in the rescue process. Aen reached up and pulled his head down for a deep kiss.

"Don't forget that I love you," she whispered when their mouths parted.

"I'll never forget what happened here," he promised her fervently. "I love you, Aen."

Clark couldn't say any more than that because they had both agreed that there was too much keeping them from making this a more long-term thing. They both had to be satisfied with the hours they had been able to steal in their own little world.

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Lex smiled in satisfaction as the large rock he and Zin had been fighting… with a lever made of a broom handle that had been in Jonathan's truck… finally gave way. It fell and rolled only about a foot from where it had been, but it was enough to enable Jisin and Martha to get in and dig out the dirt under the hole Aen and Clark had previously made. They widened it enough for Aen and Clark to scramble through with a bit of help.

As soon as the couple was out, they were ushered out of the mineshaft into the dying light of evening where the Kents fussed over Clark, and Zin and Jisin hugged Aen and asked if she was all right. Lex voiced the fact that he was glad they had both made it through the event unharmed, but mostly he stood back and observed, noting the longing and heat in Aen and Clark's gazes as they caught each other's eyes over and over. Something had happened while they were trapped, and Lex was pretty sure he knew what it was.

Lex got a call on his cell phone and had to excuse himself, taking off after once more telling Aen and Clark he was glad they were safe. Minutes later, the two remaining groups made their excuses as well, each saying they needed to get home and share the news that everyone had been found and was safe. Because of the hustling of both families, Clark and Aen didn't even get to say good-bye to each other, the two trucks heading in opposite directions with their passengers.

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"Pull over, Dad."

Clark had felt a tingle on his scalp that usually signaled his advanced healing had kicked in back when they were at the mouth of the mine, but with the audience he had been unable to test if all his powers were back. When Jonathan pulled off the road, Clark climbed out of the vehicle, his parents following suit.

Pushing off the ground, he flew straight up in the air before landing lightly beside his mother. He raced in a circle around the truck at full speed before stopping to lift the vehicle by its bumper with one finger. Clark squinted and looked into and through the engine before turning to the side of the road and setting a patch of grass on fire with his heat vision. He blew hard on the blaze, instantly smothering it.

"Whatever made me lose my powers, it was restricted to that mine," Clark said, letting his parents know that everything was back to normal and confirming that he had indeed been without his powers when he and Aen had been trapped.

After all, they knew it had to be either that or the fact that he couldn't let Aen know about him that had kept him in there for any length of time at all. Martha hugged her son and they all got back in the truck. The drive was silent for a couple minutes.

Clark turned his head to look at his parents, his mother once more sitting between he and his father on the truck's bench seat, "I have to see her soon, I have to make sure she's okay."

Martha took on a worried expression, "Sweetheart, she seemed fine, maybe a little tired, but no injuries or anything. And I'm sure Aen's friends took her to get checked out at the hospital. You can call her later."

"I need to see for myself that she's okay," Clark said forcefully.

"Clark," Jonathan said reproachfully, "you'll have to wait at least a few days to see her. How would you explain your head wound already being gone?"

He knew his father was right. Clark's broad shoulders drooped and he turned to stare, unseeing, out of the truck window as Jonathan drove toward the Kent Farm.

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Aen was furious. She had never been this angry before in her life. As soon as she had been able to assure the others there was no lasting effect from her loss of powers (Zin hadn't been effected at all and Jisin had only felt a slight dip in her strength due to the fact that they hadn't gotten near the blue glowing stone) and slip away to her room to shower and change her clothes, she had left again. And with what she had found, or rather _not found_, she had made it back to the Smith farm far faster than even she had thought possible.

Thankfully, she had enough presence of mind to listen carefully as she approached the house. Hearing the hated voice of Tep Sen, who masqueraded on Earth as Senate Carter, arguing with Zin stopped Aen in her tracks. She spun in a tight circle a few inches above the ground, shedding the dirt that had clung to her in the mine.

"Gamma," she snapped as she entered the kitchen where the two men were arguing about her whereabouts. "Upsilon and Beta are in London at one of Luthor's international warehouses checking it for the target. Go help them."

"But…" Tep started.

_Now_! Aen commanded directly to his mind, her fury making Tep flinch. Do not forget that _I_ am Omega.

The brown haired man who "secretly" worked for her father glared at her before leaving the house to do as she had commanded. Beta and Upsilon would be done with their mission before he even got there and all three of them knew it. But Tep had no choice in the matter, if she reported his insubordination to the Council, his planet-visiting rights would be revoked. And then he couldn't spy on her at all… at least until they left Earth. Zin waited silently until they were both sure their teammate was gone.

"Where is it?" Aen seethed, intense anger clear in her tone and her flashing eyes.

"I assume you mean the blue…"

"You know that's what I mean! Don't play dumb with me!" Aen interrupted. "It's not in that mine anymore. What did you do with it?"

Zin took a deep breathand stated calmly, "I did what we've been ordered to do."

Aen's eyes widened before she choked on a sob. "Please, Zin, tell me this is some sick joke… tell me you didn't destroy it."

"I'm afraid I can't," he said simply.

Aen hung her head and collapsed to her knees. Zin flinched when his sister punched the floor, putting a sizeable hole through it. When she lifted her face to look at him, silent tears were sliding down her face.

"Do you realize what you've done?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Aen, even if it didn't have obvious harmful side effects like the green ones do, it could still be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. It had to be done."

Aen shook her head slowly. "I could have just kept a small piece of it. I could have been… human."

Zin frowned and studied her for several silent minutes. "You really do love him that much, don't you? Enough to give up your people… your family."

"Zin," she said in a pleading tone. Zin knew she was asking for his understanding. "You're my brother, and I love you, and I wish I could have it both ways, but…" Aen sighed softly. "If Sar had been an alien from one of the planets we've visited instead of one of us, would you have just let it go?"

Zin moved to join his sister on the floor, wrapping his arms around the distraught young woman. He wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear. He wished he could assure her that she could have everything she wanted and deserved. But false promises wouldn't help Aen deal with the reality of her situation. He had never seen her break down like this, and it just proved even more how much the human known as Clark Kent had come to mean to her.

"You know it's not that simple," he said as gently as he could. Realizing that Aen may not give up on finding more of the item that could render her 'human' without good reason, Zin told her, "If you had done something like that without express permission from the Council, they would have had no choice but to punish you severely. They would have sent you to the Phantom Zone."

Aen sighed and leaned more heavily against him.

"I could… just leave the Purists," she said quietly after a few minutes. "Take a chance that Clark could love me despite what I am."

Zin closed his eyes in pain. "No, Aen, you can't. A whole House has to choose to leave, not a single individual. You know that."

Aen seemed to sag into herself for a minute before she said carefully, "I am the last of my mother's House. If I separated from Jisin's mother's protection…"

"And what do you think Geo would do if he found out a human was the reason you finally decided to get away from him once and for all?"

The mention of their father's name halted all arguments. For they both knew Geo was vindictive enough to destroy the only thing that had brought Aen complete happiness since her mother's death. And Aen would not risk Clark's life.

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Lex watched silently as Clark half-heartedly lined up his cue on the pool table. The younger man had come over half an hour before, looking lost. It made him even more certain that something serious had happened between Aen and his best friend while they were trapped in that collapsed mine. Lex had suggested a game of eight ball when he couldn't stand the sullen silence anymore. But the occasionalcrack of cue striking ball and the balls rattling around the table wasn't much better.

"Clark," Lex finally said. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

The dark-haired young man sighed heavily and straightened, never having taken his shot. Clark nodded his head jerkily and put away the cue stick he had been using. Together the friends moved to two chairs that were set facing each other on the other side of the room.

Clark sighed again and looked at Lex for a moment before his gaze turned inward. "I love her, and I don't know what to do about it."

"I have an illustrated copy of the Kama Sutra I can give you," Lex said with a straight face, trying to lighten his younger friend's mood.

Clark blinked in surprise before muttering under his breath, "We didn't need it two days ago."

Lex's eyebrows rose at the vocal confirmation of what he had suspected but not been able to come straight out and ask.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd take this seriously, Lex."

"I am," Lex said apologetically. "I'm sorry I said that, I was just trying to get you out of this melancholy." He let a significant pause pass before he spoke again. "Have you told her how you feel?"

"I've told her I love her. She was actually the one to say it first, but we've both said it. But she's leaving soon and…"

With a frustrated noise, Clark stood and began pacing. Lex leaned back in his seat and watched his friend's movements for a few minutes. Lex had never seen Clark this way, not even at his most infatuated in high school when Lana had been the girl Clark wanted but couldn't seem to actually approach. Lex was glad to see that the redhead meant so much more to Clark, but he was also worried about how Aen's leaving would affect the farm boy.

"What's holding you back from asking her to stay?" he asked quietly.

Clark sat back down and lowered his head, seemingly staring at the expensive carpet beneath his feet.

"I don't have anything to offer her. I know one day the farm will be mine and it's actually out of debt now, but I'll never be rich and it wouldn't be just her and me until my dad retires, which I don't think will happen for a good long time. And don't you think it's a bit selfish to ask her to give up her lifestyle and her family just to stay here in Smallville with me?"

"Clark, when two people love each other, they become each other's family. And from what I know of Aen, she doesn't need the extras, so to speak." Lex waved a hand around the room at some of his own 'extras'. "Look, Clark, the worst she could say is no, and would that be any worse than how things are now?"

"I'm afraid to find out," Clark mumbled.

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That afternoon Clark was at the grocery store picking up some things for the household, still mulling over what Lex had told him. His parents were still adamant that no one find out his secret, and for Aen to stay, she would have to be told. Clark wanted to tell her. He wanted to believe that she would be okay with the fact that he wasn't human and that she would accept him for who he was.

But would it be fair to give her that burden? And what would happen if she didn't accept it? Clark was pretty sure it would destroy him if she looked at him with anything but love in her eyes. Sighing, Clark wheeled his cart into the next aisle, almost crashing into Aen and Jisin's cart.

His eyes immediately locked onto Aen's, her own widening slightly before she smiled shyly at him. Jisin cleared her throat and looked back and forth between the two of them before taking control of the cart Aen had been pushing.

"I'll be in the dairy aisle," she told her cousin.

Aen nodded in acceptance but her gaze never left Clark's.

"I've missed you," she confessed softly as she moved closer, walking around his cart to stand about a foot away from him.

Clark couldn't stop himself from reaching up and gently tucking her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the tip of her ear and the silky mass of flame colored hair behind it. Aen's green eyes darkened at his light touch and she unconsciously leaned toward him.

"I missed you, too," he admitted huskily. Something inside him shifted when Aen's eyes drifted closed and a delicate shiver shook her body. "Don't leave Smallville. Stay with me, Aen. I love you, and I want…"

"I can't," she interrupted, pain in her beautiful eyes as they snapped open to gaze at him. "I'm sorry, Clark, you have no idea how much, but I just can't."

Before he was able to say another word, Aen had left the aisle. He didn't see her again before he headed home. And now Clark knew that, yes, his pain could get much worse than it had been.

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A few nights later Clark was at the Talon. He had been unable to sleep yet again and the coffeehouse that had been one of his most frequent haunts as a teenager was one of the few places open this late. Once he was there, though, he didn't feel much like staying, so he got into the line that was set up for to-go orders.

He was surprised to find Lana behind the counter. Though she had been the full owner of the coffeehouse for several years now… his half ownership a graduation present from Lex… she very rarely worked a shift herself, financially secure enough to have a full staff.

"Hi, Clark," she greeted brightly when it was his turn at the counter.

"Hey, Lana. Short staffed tonight?"

"No," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've been a little bored lately and I've taken any shifts the employees don't want. I've been hoping you'd come in."

Clark forced himself to smile in what he hoped was a friendly but vague way, not really wanting to get dragged into whatever drama she and Pete were going through this week. The couple had been dating on and off for two years, and every time it was "off" again, Lana went looking for someone to make Pete jealous with. When Lana tilted her head in what could only be described as a flirty pose, he realized she was waiting for some kind of response.

He sighed internally before asking noncommittally, "Oh?"

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Aen was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that Clark was two people ahead of her in line until he spoke to the young woman behind the counter. She appeared to be about their age, with dark hair and dainty features. And judging from the sparkle in her eyes and the way she was talking to Clark, they had history. History that the young woman named Lana evidently wanted to revisit if her flirting was any indication.

When Lana said she had been waiting for Clark and Clark responded with a simple "oh," Lana leaned closer to Clark and lowered her voice. But Aen could still hear her.

"I know how much you used to want me. I think you still do, and I thought maybe now would be a good time to see what could be between us."

All of the things that kept her from Clark were brought to the surface when Aen thought about everything Clark could have with the pretty brunette… a human like him. Aen clenched her fists so hard that if anything had been in her hands it would have turned to powder. She had no right to keep Clark from having something with someone else, especially not after turning him down without an explanation, but she wouldn't… couldn't be a witness to it.

Aen abandoned her place in line and headed for the exit, muttering a wounded, "No."

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Clark's head snapped around when he heard a single negative word uttered by Aen. How could he have not noticed her presence until just then? He caught sight of her red hair headed quickly toward the door. Lana was promptly ignored and forgotten when Clark realized what Aen must have assumed from Lana's flirting and the fact that their own relationship was so undefined. Clark ran after her, catching up with her outside on the sidewalk.

Aen was trapped, obviously having to wait for whichever member of her family was supposed to pick her up. Clark could only be grateful. He gently turned her to face him, but she refused to look at him.

"Aen," he said, "I wasn't going to say yes. My infatuation with her was years ago, when we were still in high school together."

She finally looked up at him, and he saw that her dark green eyes were full of hurt.

"Aen," Clark said almost mournfully, "she's just a friend now. Wasn't there ever someone you cared about before me?"

Aen's lips parted and her expression turned from one of present hurt to past pain.

"There was someone once. It was only puppy love, though… the last time I saw him we were only three. His name was Kal." The name struck a chord in Clark but he ignored it. "I still remember the last time I saw him. My mother and I went to visit his family before we…moved. Kal and I had been betrothed at birth, but since my mother and I were leaving, the betrothal had to be broken. Anyway, my mother was wearing this awful hat made of metal that was fashioned to look like a halo of twigs." She smiled at the memory and he smiled with her, her words triggering a long buried memory in his own mind. "We went out into the garden so Kal and I could play while our parents talked. A wystril, a type of bird," she explained somehow unnecessarily, "flew down…"

"…and laid an egg on her head," Clark finished for her, laughter in his blue eyes that died suddenly as he realized what he had said.

Aen had gone completely white, and her chest was rising and falling so rapidly that Clark thought she was going to hyperventilate.

When she opened her mouth, one word came out as barely a whisper, "Kal?"

Just then, Zin pulled up in his truck, leaning out the window, "Come on, Aen, we're late."

Mechanically, Aen obeyed her brother and got in the truck. As they drove away, Clark snapped out of his shock-induced trance and began walking out of town. As soon as he was out of sight of anyone, Clark took off at top speed, arriving at the Smith's house eight minutes before Zin's truck.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **_Italics_ signify thought or emphasis. Underlined is telepathic communication.

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Zin got out of the truck first and stared at Clark in amazement, "So, it's true. Nice to meet you, Kal El." He came closer, "If you hurt her, I'll shove Kryptonite down your throat."

When Clark frowned, Zin clarified, "The green meteor rocks."

Clark nodded his understanding. The usual 'hurt her and I'll kick your ass' wasn't strong enough a threat in their case but Zin was still a protective, caring brother.

Zin moved away from him and said to Aen, "I'll make your excuses to the others. Take all the time you need."

Zin entered the house and Clark turned back toward the truck to face Aen. She took a single step toward him then stopped. Clark walked slowly the rest of the distance between them to stand in front of her.

Clark's chest was tight with emotion. He couldn't believe that she was like him, that he had spent as much time with her as he had without finding out. A million emotions flashed in Aen's eyes as she stared at him, but she waited for him to speak first.

He begged simply, "Tell me."

Aen took a deep, shuddering breath and started softly, "Well…"

"Wait," Clark interrupted her. "I want my parents to hear everything from you. Do you mind if they know?"

Aen shook her head. She liked the Kent's. How could she not? They had raised the man she loved, helped mold him into who he was.

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When they reached the farmhouse minutes later, Aen sat down and waited while he went to wake his parents. He returned and sat across from her, his parents trailing slowly behind. Martha yawned and Jonathan wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"What's going on, Clark?" Martha asked when she and Jonathan had sat down next to him.

Clark looked over at Aen. She was still avoiding his gaze as she had on the very quick trip here. After a moment, she lifted her head and what he saw in her eyes was overwhelming. Hope so intense it made her eyes shine took his breath away. It was in that instant that he knew what she had been thinking about on the way here. They really could be together if she was truly like him, truly from the same place. A smile of wonder lit his face, and his eyes promised her that they were far from through.

"How did you come to have Kal, uh, Clark?" Aen asked Martha softly.

Martha and Jonathan both stiffened, but Clark reached over and squeezed his mother's hand lightly to reassure her. "It's okay, just tell her the truth."

"We…we found him during a meteor shower a little over twenty years ago."

Aen nodded, "Was there a ship?"

"Yes."

"Where did it go?"

"Go? Nowhere, we brought it here. We've kept it out in the storm cellar ever since."

Aen looked slightly puzzled by Jonathan's answer.

"This may be easier to do if we can go to the ship," Aen told Clark.

At Clark's urging and after checking on a sound asleep Zoey, his parents followed the two younger people out to the storm cellar, a flashlight in Jonathan's hand for he and Martha's sakes. When they were down in the cellar, Clark removed the tarp on the small ship that had brought him to earth.

"We've never been able to get it open. There was a small octagonal piece we thought might have been the key, but it only activated the ship a few times, it never opened it."

"It shouldn't be the only way to open it."

Aen knelt next to the ship and ran a hand over the rounded top, snatching her hand away when a section of the seamless panel lit up beneath her palm.

"I've never seen one this size, it's so small. That must have been how Jor got away with it," she said to herself, then, "Kal, put your hand where the light was."

He hesitated just a moment before doing what she had instructed. The light shone once more and a faint hum filled the air while sections of the dome disappeared from view.

Just inside the ship was a cushioned seat only big enough for one person, and a small one at that. On it was a piece of cloth. Aen reached in and pulled the blue material out.

When she shook it out and laid it on her lap, Clark instinctively caught the six inch green crystal that fell out. Thinking it was Kryptonite, he almost let go of it before realizing it wasn't hurting him. He lifted his gaze from the crystal to the woman he loved. Aen was smiling sadly.

"You are Kal El," she said, her fingers tracing a red stylized "S" in a red and yellow shield. "This is the House of El's crest. You are the last of your line."

"You know where Clark is from?" Martha asked in shock.

"I'm from the same place," Aen said, picking up a nearby length of lead pipe and bending it easily. She bent it back into shape a moment later. "I met Kal a few times when we were very young."

"Oh my god," Martha and Jonathan said as one.

Clark noticed Aen hadn't mentioned their former betrothal to his parents and wondered why.

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The ship closed itself and Aen stood.

"We should go back in the house now." In a whisper that only Clark would hear she said, "Your parents need to absorb this and we should be comfortable when I finish the story."

Aen reached for his hand when they were outside and held him back from his parents. Martha and Jonathan didn't notice, continuing on to the house. Clark looked down at her and smiled. When she smiled back, Clark dipped his head and kissed her with everything inside him. She gave as good as she got, and they both smiled when they parted for air.

"We shouldn't keep your parents," she whispered softly. "I love you, Kal El."

"And I love you, Aen…"

"Ni," she supplied.

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Even walking human speed, they easily caught up with his parents. The four of them went into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. Martha and Jonathan both looked worried. Clark lay a comforting hand on Martha's arm, even though he was just as anxious about this as she was, if not more so. Aen reached across the table and lightly took Jonathan's hand. He stared down at their joined hands for a moment and then back up at her.

Aen smiled gently, saying, "He will always be your son, you raised him into the man he is now. The only thing that has changed is that you will now know he has another name, and you'll know where he came from. No one can take him away from you, and I would never suggest that he come with the rest of us. If Kal so chooses, I won't tell the others that he is one of us, and Zin is the only other one who knows."

"You don't think he'll tell whoever your leaders are?" Martha questioned, her soft voice still wary.

"No," Aen replied, "he is my brother. He would never do something I asked him not to."

"Your brother? You have different last names."

Aen looked pained at Jonathan's comment. "Unfortunately, we have the same father. We're not allowed to acknowledge it, so even when we have assumed names, as Smith and Jones are, they have to be different. I was born while Zin's mother was still alive."

"What does that mean in your culture?" Martha asked delicately.

"If anyone ever found out and Geo, our father, was reported, he would be imprisoned. Adultery is a very serious crime for the Purists. But my brother and I are both afraid of him, too afraid to report him. He's done much worse. He…he killed my mother, and probably Zin's as well."

"Oh my god," Martha cried. "Are you safe from him?"

"I don't know," Aen answered honestly. "Zin is Geo's only heir, and Geo knows that Zin would react very badly if anything ever happened to me. It's kept me safe so far."

Martha and Jonathan were silent, and Aen had the feeling they didn't know what else to say to that.

"Anyhow, we're from Krypton. A planet many thousands of light years away. At least, it used to be. The same year Kal was sent to Earth, Krypton exploded. Our sun had been dying for some time, and it caused severe gravitational shifts in the planet's core. Kal's father, Jor El, was Krypton's top scientist, but when he told the Council, the leaders of our planet, what was going to happen, they condemned him as a heretic and forbade him and his family from leaving the planet. This happened the year before, the same year the Purists left Krypton, so I guess he figured out that he could only get Kal off the planet without the Council knowing what he was up to."

"What was my mother's name?" Kal asked softly.

"Her name was Lara. She was _so_ beautiful, Kal. I'm sure I can get some pictures of both of them from the Purists' database for you, as well as the history of our planet if you're interested. The crystal from your ship will probably be a message from your parents."

Kal pulled the crystal out of his pocket and rolled it back and forth on his palm. "How do I get it to work?"

"You have to insert it in ice. Krypton's last five thousand years were an ice age, and ice was a major component of most of the technology."

He looked at it for a few more seconds before slipping it back into his pocket. "I think we should wait til tomorrow. We all have a lot to absorb already, and it's really late."

"I don't think I could sleep right now, Clark." Jonathan said.

"Jonathan," Martha warned softly. She hugged Kal and then Aen, smiling at them. "We'll see you two in the morning at breakfast."

Jonathan's mouth formed a silent "Oh!" and he followed his wife upstairs.

Kal turned to Aen and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly to him, his face buried in the curve of her neck. Aen closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, stroking his head with one hand, delighting in the feel of his silky hair.

Minutes passed in silence before Kal lifted his head and smiled down at Aen, "That was my mother's way of saying she's giving us her blessing and it's okay for you to stay with me."

"I'm glad she's so understanding," Aen said softly. "I don't think I'd be able to leave you right now. I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to now that I know we can be together without me hurting you."

Not wanting to dwell on the fact that even now, even knowing that they were the same, she would still have to leave, Kal changed the subject, "How many of us are there?"

"One thousand five hundred sixty-seven, well, you make eight, and there are three men to each woman."

"And you never chose one of them to share your life with?"

"I didn't love any of them, Kal. I love you. I loved you just as deeply when I thought you were human and there was no chance for us to have a future."

"I know," he assured her. "And I love you even more for it." He kissed her gently before asking, "Is there a way to get our betrothal reinstated?"

She smiled at that, unshed tears making her eyes glisten. "Not without everyone knowing about you. The Council would have to hear our case and my aunt would have to give her permission since I'm under the protection of her husband's House."

"You don't think she'd give it?"

"I just don't know, sometimes I think my father controls what she allows me to do, and he certainly wouldn't want me happy. He's the main reason I don't think you should tell the Purists about yourself. He has a lot of power even though he's not on the Council, and he might be able to sway them to say that it would be irresponsible to let you stay here instead of coming with us."

"I don't want to talk about them right now." Aen smiled her agreement when he tightened his hold on her. "Shall we sleep in the barn loft so we don't disturb anyone?"

"Is there a light? I want to be able to see you this time."

Kal grinned, "That goes double for me. You don't know how many times since we got out of the mine that I almost looked through your clothes to see if you looked as great as you felt."

Aen blushed but grinned, "So, you have X-ray vision? Sometimes I wish I did."

Kal stopped grinning, his eyebrows furrowing together. "You don't?"

"No," Aen answered. "Here on Earth, and on other planets with yellow suns that we've been to, all of us have enhanced speed, strength, hearing and sight, heat vision, too; we can fly and we're also pretty much invincible except when it comes to Kryptonite. Other than that, powers are individual, kind of like not all humans are good cooks or can carry a tune. Zin is the only one of us that you've met who has x-ray vision."

"What's your power?"

This, her voice appeared in his head, but her mouth was closed.

"Whoa," Kal said. "I thought I heard your voice in my head once before, when that rattlesnake bit me."

"Yeah, I was so worried that I just… slipped. Now I wish I had slipped more. Maybe we would have figured everything out faster."

"We did figure it out. That's what's important." Kal dipped his head and kissed her passionately.

Several minutes later when they both needed air, Aen pulled him by the hand toward the door.

"Hold on," he said when they were outside. "There's something I've wanted to do with you for a long time."

He lifted her into his arms, and even though they both knew she could do it on her own, he flew her into the barn loft through the open window. She smiled lovingly at him as he set her down, sliding her body down his in the process.

"I love you," Kal said.

Aen bit her lip and smiled crookedly. She backed up a few steps, toward the bed, and held her arms out toward him in invitation.

"Show me how much."

So he did.

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Aen and Kal were awake a few seconds before Zoey tackled them. They hadn't remained undressed the night before in case of just such an event, pulling on a few articles of clothing before falling asleep. Aen was wearing her panties and Kal's t-shirt, and Kal had on his boxers. Zoey burrowed under the covers between them.

"Did you have a sleepover?" the little girl asked matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Kal answered. "Aen is my girlfriend now, Zo. And you can't tell anyone, but she's special like me."

Zoey nodded, seeming indifferent, and Kal frowned.

"It's all right, Kal. She already knew. That day at the bank, I really was shot while I was holding her. I was worried that she'd slip to someone about what had happened, but obviously she's very good at keeping secrets."

Kal leaned on one elbow to kiss each of them on the forehead. If Aen hadn't been from Krypton, he would have lost both of them that day and he hadn't even known it.

Zoey wiggled, and Kal let her go.

"Go tell Mom that we'll be there in a minute. We need to get dressed."

Zoey nodded but frowned, "Are you going home now, Aen?"

"No, Zoey, I'm not leaving." Aen wished with all her heart that it were a permanent situation instead of a temporary one.

"She's going to be staying with me for awhile." Kal clarified. The couple had discussed it last night. As long as it didn't become a problem with any of the other Kryptonians, Aen would be spending most of her time with Kal until she had to leave Earth. "Later today we'll go get some of her things from Zin's house and bring them here."

"Okay," Zoey said.

She skipped across the loft and was gone moments later.

Kal and Aen smiled at each other. They kissed and snuggled for a few minutes before getting up and pulling on their clothes. Kal paused in buttoning his shirt and turned to look at Aen.

"It's you and the others that have been getting rid of all the Kryptonite, isn't it?"

Aen blinked in surprise but nodded. "I can only assume you know how the radiation from the rocks can change those that are not our species. Whenever we come across a planet that has Kryptonite, we help the locals get rid of it. In the case of a planet like Earth where they don't know about other life in the galaxy, we take care of the problem ourselves."

"Is that why you travel so much?"

"No," Aen answered, moving closer to help him finish with the top buttons on his shirt. "We can't really be held responsible for the effects of the natural destruction of our home planet and the pieces of it that have scattered throughout the galaxy. We just help when we come across it. The Purists left Krypton a year before it exploded, hoping to find a new home planet and build a colony. We're still looking."

When Kal gave her a questioning glance, Aen elaborated a little.

"The Council doesn't want to make our home on a planet that has people stronger or weaker than us so that neither race could easily destroy the other. And the few planets we have been to that were like Krypton enough that we were nearly equal to its people… well, there have been problems."

Just then, Zoey bounded back up the stairs, hopping up and down excitedly and smiling at them. "Hurry up, Momma's making waffles!"

Kal and Aen smiled at each other and followed the energetic girl, putting off more talk of Kryptonians and space travel until later. But before too long Kal would at least have to ask Aen when she was scheduled to leave. As much as the thought hurt, he had to know how short their remaining time together was going to be.


End file.
